Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
by EmilyAnnCoons
Summary: Kate is a shy girl trying to become a Pokemon Ranger, but when an evil organization tries to take over the world using Pokemon, can she and the other Rangers stop it? Rate T for language, sexual themes, and possible violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Welcome," a voice spoke as a young girl stepped into the pitch-black room. "Please state your name."

"I-I'm Kate Yamaki," the young girl spoke nervously. This wasn't what she had expected when she signed up.

"Age?"

"F-fourteen."

"Take the Styler from the desk next to you."

Kate reached over, taking the small device in her hand. She noticed the device was round in the front while it then led back into a small handle from there. A small flap covered a set of buttons and graphs on the back of the device. "Now what?"

"Step forward and use the device to capture this," the voice spoke once more and in an instant a small yellow rodent jumped forward. It had long pointy ears that ended in black spots at the top, while its tail was long and shaped like a lightning bolt. It also had smell red circles on its cheeks where electricity seemed to spark from. "Simply pull the switch on the Styler and the Capture Disc will release from it. Guide the Disc around the Pikachu and capture it."

Kate nodded and held the Styler forward. "All right, here we go…" She pulled the trigger and a small silver disc, similar to a top, shot forward from the device, landing directly upon the ground in front of her. The device lit up and the words "Capture On!" showed on the device. The disc began to spin on its point, steadily faster until it had achieved its maximum speed. Kate moved the Styler to the side and noticed how the Disc followed her movements.

Quickly, Kate began to move the device in a circle, watching as the Disc followed along, leaving a long blue line behind it. She brought the Disc around the Pikachu and connected the disc to the line it left behind. As soon as she did, the line began to glow brightly before moving inward, striking the Pikachu, which made it glow for a moment as the line vanished. Again and again Kate swirled the Disc around the creature until finally the device registered "Capture Complete" and the Disc returned to her Styler. At once, the creature rushed to her side and began to nuzzle against her.

"Astounding, absolutely amazing," the voice from before spoke. "You have done well. You have passed your entrance exam. Welcome to the notorious Team School. With you at our side, we will be able to conquer the world in no time!"

Suddenly, the lights in the room flipped on, and Kate noticed the voice was coming from a rather scrawny man in front of her who was wearing a blue hat and blue shirt and shorts. His eyes went wide and he blinked for a moment before covering his eyes. "That's bright! Ms. April, don't do that!"

"Serves you right for teasing new students like that, Mr Kaplan," a voice spoke from behind Kate and she whirled around to see a young woman in her thirties step up to her. She had long brown hair that ended around her waist, and she wore a very formal green sleeveless shirt and white skirt that ended at her knees. "You look like you'll make a fine Ranger." April turned back to Kaplan. "And how did she do?"

"Passed with flying colors, Ms. April! I haven't seen a capture like that since Keith joined the school."

"As good as Keith, you say? She'll definitely be a great Ranger, then." April turned back to Kate. "Well, then, sounds like you're all ready to start here. How about we get you to class?"

Kate smiled. "I'd love that!" April nodded in response and the two left.

. . .

"Did you guys hear anything about the new student?" a young girl no older then fifteen asked as she looked to her classmates. She was wearing the standard school uniform for girls which consisted of a pair of blue shorts and a blue button-up short-sleeve shirt and yellow tie with a long-sleeved green jacket on top of that. She also had very curly blonde hair that ended at her shoulders.

"Should we have?" a young boy of about fifteen asked as he looked towards the girl. The boy had his brown hair spiked in all sorts of different ways, and his outfit was the standard school uniform for guys in the school, consisting of the same shirt, tie, and jacket the girls wore, but with a pair of long pants instead of shorts.

"Well, usually this place is flying with rumors about everything."

The boy shrugged. "Guess no one really cares."

"Well, I'm hoping it'll be a really handsome guy," the girl spoke, sticking her nose up.

"You just want a boyfriend, Rhythmi," the boy spoke folding his hands behind his head and sitting back in his chair.

"Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?"

"Sure, as long as it doesn't affect me."

"All right, class, settle down," April spoke as she stepped into the classroom. She stepped forward to the front of the classroom and turned to face her class. "Now then, as I said yesterday, we will be having a new student today. She came all by herself from the Fiore region to learn to become a Ranger."

"Aww," Rhythmi sighed. "I was hoping it would be a really cute guy."

"Is she cute?" a student sitting next to Rhythmi asked. "Maybe cool? Does she look like a celebrity maybe? What's she like?"

"Now, now, you'll all find out in just a moment," April spoke as she looked up to the door in the back of the room. "You can come in now."

The door to the classroom slid open and from the doorway stepped a girl with long brown hair that she had pulled up into small pigtails at the top of her head. She had beautiful ocean blue eyes and was dressed in the standard school uniform for the Ranger School. She stepped forward nervously, making her way to the front of the class before stopping and turning to face the class. "H-hello," she spoke, waving lightly.

"Wow!" three of the boys shouted at once. "She's so cute!" This made the girl blush heavily.

"Now, now, class, settle down," Ms. April spoke. "This is your new classmate. I'll let her introduce herself."

The girl looked up at Ms. April for a moment before nodding and looking down. "Umm…m-my name is Kate Yamaki. I'm fourteen years old and one-hundred and forty-three centimeters tall." She then noticed the guys around her were all starting heavily and it made her body begin to shake. She could feel their eyes looking down at her curiously, perhaps even longly. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore them, but she could still feel the presence of their eyes upon her. Her fists tightened as her body shook even more until she couldn't hold it. "Y-you boys can stop staring at me! I don't like boys!"

"What?" the class erupted in unison. Kate immediately buried her face in her hands in embarrasement.

"You're a lesbian?" one of the boys called out.

"That's totally cool!" one of the other boys shouted.

"Whatever," the boy Rhythmi had been talking to earlier spoke with a shrug.

"Keith…" Rhythmi spoke with a sigh. "You just don't care about anything do you?"

"I care about myself, isn't that enough?" Keith asked with a shrug.

"All right, class, settle down," Ms. April spoke up and the class settled down. She then turned to Kate. "You know, that was a pretty brave thing you just did."

"I…I couldn't help it…all the guys were staring at me…" Kate spoke, her face still beat red.

April smiled and pat Kate's head. "Well, no one here will judge you." She turned to her class. "Right class?"

"Right!" the class shouted in unison.

"See?" April asked as she turned back to Kate. "Anything else you want to say?"

"Umm…n-no. I'm fine," Kate spoke with a somewhat forced smile.

"Why don't you have a seat then? There's an empty desk next to Keith."

Kate nodded and walked over to the desk next to Keith and sat down. She then buried her face in her hands to cover how embarrassed she was. "Hey, new-girl-I-can't-remember-you're-name," Keith spoke. "Don't be so nervous, we're all good people here." He smiled, which Rhythmi would later tell Kate was very uncharacteristic of him.

"Th-thanks," Kate spoke nervously.

"Now, then, class," Ms. April spoke, "due to the fact we have a new student I'll change the class schedule around a bit today. We're going to have a free-study class today so that Kate can walk around and get an understanding of the school. Let's have…" she looked over the class for a moment. "Rhythmi, let's have you go ahead and show Kate around. If that's okay with Kate." April looked to Kate who nodded.

Rhythmi stepped over to Kate and smiled. "Hey, I'm Rhythmi," she spoke. "I'm actually not here to be a Ranger, I'm here to be an Operator."

"Operator?" Kate asked as she looked up at Rhythmi as Ms. April walked by.

"Operators are like…the most important part of Rangers. Operators receive intel and give out missions to the Rangers."

"Well, I wouldn't say most important," April spoke. "However, they are the helpers. Rangers tend to go down the roads that cannot normally be travelled, and it is up to those Operators to offer them aid. Of course, I'm not talking about things like holding a flashlight for them in a cave. I mean like recharging their Stylers, helping them by giving them pinpoint information about where possible exits are if they need to escape, that sort of thing. Think of them as the Lifeline of Rangers."

Kate nodded. "Sounds tough," she spoke. "Maybe tougher than being a Ranger."

Rhythmi rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh no, being a Ranger is way tougher. There's no way I'd be able to do that."

"Anyway, class," Ms. April spoke, "since this is free-study, I'll be in the Staff Hall planning our Outdoor Class for next month if you need me." She then headed out of the classroom. Immediately everyone grouped around Kate.

"So, kid-whose-name-I-don't-remember," Keith spoke, "how long did it take you to catch Pikachu? I bet it took like an hour, right?"

"N-no," Kate spoke. "Th-they actually said I did really good."

"Well, I'm the best here."

Rhythmi shook her head. "Keith is a show off, so don't worry about him. Now, then, let me give you a tour of the classroom and we'll head out." She smiled. "Of course, you've met Ms. April. She's a good person, just don't make her angry, otherwise…watch out!" She giggled. "Of course, you've got the desks and students. It wouldn't hurt to get to know them all a bit, even the guys."

Kate blushed at that comment. "I-I suppose it wouldn't hurt to."

Rhythmi smirked and got right into Kate's face which caused her to back away a bit. "So…about that outburst…" Kate turned beat red and buried her face in her hands again.

"I-I'm sorry," Kate spoke. "Everyone was staring, and I felt so nervous…I couldn't hold it in."

Rhythmi giggled. "It's fine, Kate." She took Kate's hand and pulled her up. "Come on, we have a school to explore." The two quickly stepped out, and the boys quickly began to whisper rumors amongst themselves. They had honestly never seen Rhythmi act that way towards anyone.

. . .

"And here we are, Mr. Kincaid's class," Rhythmi spoke as she and Kate stepped into the classroom that was across the hall from hers. She pointed towards the front of the class, where they could see Mr. Kincaid had been teaching, only to stop when the door had opened. Mr. Kincaid was a young man, likely no older than April. He had blonde hair that he had stick up into a twirl about a foot off his head. "He gets his hair to do that by using a ton of hair spray," Rhythmi commented. Kate then noticed his red vest and yellow long-sleeved, button-up shirt and black pants.

"What are you two doing out of class?" Mr. Kincaid snapped which made Kate cower back a little.

"Ms. April gave us free-study today so that I could show Kate around, Mr. Kincaid," Rhythmi immediately responded.

"I see." Mr. Kincaid nodded and went back to his class.

"He's a real stickler, that one," Rhythmi whispered. "He's very strict, and his number one rule is 'Don't run in the hallways'. So I'd be careful around him if I were you." Kate only nodded in response.

"Come, I'll show you the Staff Room."

. . .

"Oh…this was a lot easier last year…" Ms. April spoke as she sat back in her chair and sighed. When she did, the door to the Staff Room opened and Kate and Rhythmi stepped in.

"And this is the Staff Room," Rhythmi spoke. "Usually our principal is the only one in here." She turned and waved to Ms. April and the Principal. "That guy there is Principal Lamont Splendidocious," she spoke as she pointed towards the man in glasses. He had gray hair, showing he was older than anyone else in the school, and he wore a brown suit. "No one can pronounce his last name, though, so everyone just calls him 'Principal Lamont'." Kate nodded.

"Hello, Kate," Ms. April spoke with a smile. "Enjoying yourself so far, I hope?"

Kate gave a bow. "Yes, Ms. April," she spoke a little nervously and Ms. April giggled.

"Dear, there's no reason to be nervous around me."

"S-sorry, Ms. April, it's just a new place and all…"

Ms. April nodded. "I understand. You're a very shy girl, aren't you?"

"A-a little, yes."

Ms. April smiled. "Well, no worries, I'm sure you'll open up and get used to everyone soon enough, just do your best."

"Thank you, Ms. April." Kate gave another bow, then turned back to Rhythmi.

"Well, we'll be on our way," Rhythmi spoke and waved, to which Ms. April and Lamont wave back.

. . .

"Hey!" a student shouted.

"Quiet!" one of the other students whispered loudly. "This is a library! Don't shout!"

"Sorry, Isaac," the student spoke, rubbing the back of his neck.

"And this is the Library, also known as Keith's nap room," Rhythmi spoke as the door opened, to which Isaac turned quickly, looking somewhat irate.

"Why does everyone have to shout when they come in?" Isaac asked as he stepped up to Kate and Rhythmi.

"Oh, Isaac, I'm not shouting, I'm just showing Kate around," Rhythmi spoke and waved towards Kate.

"Kate, huh?" Isaac asked as he looked at her, which made her shirk back. "Most interesting."

"Kate, this mushroom-haired boy is Isaac." It was true, Isaac's blonde hair was combed in a shape that looked like the top of a mushroom. "He's a bit exotic, but he's very smart. You can usually find him here, but sometimes he vanishes."

Isaac smiled. "That's me. My IQ and height in centimeters are both one-hundred and sixty-three."

"Twenty more then me," Kate spoke quietly.

"I'm studying to be a scientist. Mr. Kincaid gave me special permission to study here on my own instead of in class."

Kate smiled. "Y-you seem nice," she spoke.

Isaac rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I try to be. I don't see any reason to be mean to anyone."

Kate nodded and gave a bow. "I'm Kate Yamaki, fourteen years old and one-hundred and forty-three centimeters tall."

Isaac blinked then rubbed the back of his neck. "You don't need to bow to me."

"S-sorry," Kate spoke, shirking back a bit.

Rhythmi giggled. "Well, you seem to have made a friend with Isaac. Almost everyone likes him, though. He's probably the nicest guy here, unless you're in the Library anyway. Then he'll scream at you if you're too loud."

"It's a Library, you're supposed to be quiet," Isaac defended.

Rhythmi shrugged. "Let's head upstairs next, I'll show you the dorms and you can pick out a bed." Kate nodded.

. . .

Janice hummed as she vacuumed the dorm room floor. "The dorms are here on the second floor," Rhythmi spoke as she stepped up the last step onto the second floor.

"Oh, hello, Rhythmi," Janice spoke and Rhythmi waved.

"Kate, this is Janice, the caretaker lady."

Kate looked Janice over once, noticing her shoulder-length brown hair was rather puffy in the back. She then noticed Janice's sienna-brown shirt and snow-white skirt. "H-hello," she spoke and gave a bow.

Janice rubbed the back of her neck. "You don't need to bow to me, dear," Janice spoke.

"Janice is like a mother to all of us here in the school. I'm sure you two will become nice and close, just like everyone else has with her."

It was at that moment that the door to the boy's dorm opened, and a boy stepped out. He was taller than Kate by quite a few inches. His brown hair was spiked, but only in the very back, the front was instead parted and smoothed out. He wore the standard school uniform and Kate noticed his eyes were the exact same color as hers. "Wh-whose that?" Kate asked nervously.

"Kellyn," Rhythmi asked. "Probably the most handsome and serious guy here. He doesn't mess around. He also doesn't know how to have fun."

Kate turned away from Rhythmi to look back at Kellyn. "H-hello," she spoke and gave him a bow.

Kellyn blinked for a moment. "Who are you?" he asked somewhat coldly and Kate shirked back a little.

"I-I'm Kate Yamaki, fourteen years old, one-hundred and forty-three centimeters tall."

"Kate, huh? Interesting. I'm Kellyn, Kellyn Tajiri. I'm sixteen years old, making me the oldest student here, and I'm one-hundred and eighty-three centimeters tall."

"W-wow…" Kate spoke as she looked up at Kellyn. "Fourty centimeters more…you're the tallest person I've met so far…"

Kellyn shrugged. "I'm the tallest person here. I always have been."

Kate bowed again and Kellyn looked to Rhythmi, who waved her arms. "She does that to everyone she meets it seems."

Kellyn turned to Kate. "You don't need to bow to everyone, you know?" he spoke somewhat coldly then walked off.

Kate practically fainted. "Are you okay?" Rhythmi asked as she caught Kate.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Kate responded, but Rhythmi could feel her body was shaking horribly.

"Made you nervous?"

Kate nodded. "I've never met anyone like him before. He was…cold…"

Rhythmi shrugged. "That's Kellyn for you. He acts that way to everyone." She stood to her feet and helped Kate stand to her feet. "Let's go check out the dorms." The two walked to the eastern door, which was colored a light pink color. She pulled the door open and Kate and Rhythmi stepped inside. "This is the girl's dorm room."

"Th-this is where we sleep?" Kate asked and Rhythmi nodded. "It's…kind of small…"

"You're not claustrophobic, are you?"

Kate shook her head. "But…there's a lot of beds…which means a lot of girls, right?"

Rhythmi blinked for a second then smiled. "Hey, no worries, you'll be fine."

"B-but…will they be okay…being around me?"

Rhythmi laughed. "Nah, you're not the only girl here who likes girls."

Kate blushed heavily. "R-really?"

Rhythmi nodded. "I don't act like it, but I'm not the straightest person either. Truth is, I'm bisexual, though I do prefer guys a bit more."

"I-I see…"

Rhythmi smiled and poked Kate's nose. "Just don't go hitting on me now that you know, okay?"

Kate nodded. "I-I won't."

Rhythmi hugged Kate which made her blush a deep crimson. "You're a sweet girl. I hope we can get you out of your shell at least a little bit while you're here. I think you'd really enjoy the people here if you gave them a chance."

Kate nodded slowly. "I-I'll try."

"That's the spirit. Well, that concludes Rhythmi's Grand Tour of Wonderment and Excitement!" Rhythmi spoke with a cheer making Kate giggle. "What?"

"Just how you said that was all," Kate smiled, which made Rhythmi smile.

"Let's head back to class."

Kate nodded in response and the two headed back to their classroom.

. . .

"Are we all here?" Rhythmi asked as she looked around. It was dark in the Ranger School as night had come and it was passed their curfew.

"Yeah," Keith and a couple of other students spoke.

"Good. Everyone, you know Kate, the new student," Rhythmi spoke as she waved to Kate. "As per tradition, we will be giving Kate the standard Trial of Courage."

"T-Trial of Courage?" Kate asked, almost frightened by the very words.

"It's no big deal," Keith spoke as he put his arms behind his head. "I had to do it last time because I was the newest student. It's pretty simple, actually. All four of us hide our Stylers in the rooms below and you find them, then take them and put them in front of the door to Mr. Kincaid's office in the basement.

"B-but aren't we not allowed down there?" Kate asked.

"And we're also supposed to be in our rooms, but we're not," Rhythmi spoke. "So we're already breaking rules as it is, what's one more?"

"I-I guess so…" Kate spoke as she shirked back.

"Good, now that that is decided, let's go ahead and begin the Trial of Courage."

"Keep it down, but yay!" Keith spoke quietly.

"Of course, we can't forget that while this Trial is simple, it can be dangerous as there are Pokemon roaming the halls of the Ranger School. Sure, they're Bidoof, but still. As such, we have a rule: The student sitting directly next to the person taking the Trial has to go with them."

"Guk!" Keith blurted out and everyone turned, wondering what the heck kind of noise that was supposed to be. "Th-that's me…"

"Yeap, have fun!" Rhythmi pushed Kate towards Keith and she waved her arms.

"I-I don't really think-"

"Don't worry, Kate, we all know you don't like guys. Keith won't try to make any moves in the dark, will you, Keith?" Rhythmi glared at him.

"Of course not!" Keith spoke quickly. "I would never do that!"

"See? You'll be fine." Rhythmi smiled. "Now go, you're wasting time."

Kate nodded slowly, then turned to Keith who shrugged. She sighed and hung her head for a moment. "A-all right…" She then turned and headed down the stairs.

The two had just reached the bottom of the stairs when they heard a strange noise not far off. "Waaah!" Keith shouted and jumped back. "Wh-what was that?"

Kate's body locked up as she became to shake. Her eyes began to adjust more to the darkness here, and when they had, she noticed a a rather plump, mousy-like creature with brown fur and buck teeth was sitting in the middle of the hallway. "I-it's a Bidoof," Kate spoke and Keith stepped forward, looking hard.

"So it is," Keith spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-it startled me. Y-you were scared, too, r-right?"

Kate nodded, then stepped forward. "I-I'll capture it in case we need it." She pulled out her Styler and held it up. She pushed the trigger, launching the Capture Disc once more. "Capture on!" she spoke quietly and began to move her hand in a circular motion, causing the Capture Disc to form loops around the Bidoof. Finally, as she drew the last loop, the Disc returned to her Styler and the Bidoof quickly rushed over to her, rubbing against her leg. "I-it's kind of cute."

Keith blinked. "I…don't think I've ever heard a girl say that before."

Kate blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Wh-where do we go now?"

"How about our classroom first?" Keith suggested and Kate nodded. The two quickly made their way down the hall and into their classroom. "Our classroom is creepy at night," he spoke as he looked around the room, noticing just how dark it really was, and how they could barely make out the shapes of the desks.

"S-so where am I supposed to be looking?" Kate asked nervously as she tried to keep her body from shaking horribly.

"Well, I'm allowed to give you one clue per room. The clue for this room is 'What is here that wasn't before?'"

"What kind of a clue is that?" Kate asked as she turned to Keith.

"Well, look around."

Kate did as she was told, and upon examination, she noticed the room was filled with small crates. "There's crates…The Styler is in one of them, isn't it?"

Keith nodded. "Sounds about right."

"B-Bidoof, crush the crate over there!" Kate spoke out and the Bidoof rushed forward, smashing through the crate in front of her. When it did, she noticed that inside of the crate was a small rodent with light yellow fur and pointed ears that led to little black dots on the tips. It's tail was like a lightning bolt, but unlike Pikachu's whose tail was partly brown, this one's tail was black all the way down. It also had little pink circles on its cheeks. "P-Pichu."

Keith nodded. "Only one of the crates is the real thing, the others have Pokemon in them."

"B-Bidoof!" Kate spoke up, but when she did the Bidoof turned and began to walk away. "B-Bidoof?"

"You can only use a Pokemon for a single Target Clear. If you want to use it again, you'll have to recapture it."

Kate nodded. "A-all right." She pulled out her Styler and quickly performed another capture before the Bidoof could get much further. "A-all right, Bidoof, smash that crate over there." Bidoof nodded and quickly rushed at a crate near Ms. April's desk. When it did, the crate smashed apart, but this time she didn't see any Pokemon appear out of it. She quickly rushed to the crate's remains and moved away some of the splintered wood. She found one of the Stylers there and she quickly picked it up with a smile. "I-I did it!"

"Awesome, that's one down and three to go."

"Th-three more?" Kate asked and sighed. "A-all right…where next?"

"Mr. Kincaid's classroom is the closest."

Kate nodded and quickly recaptured the Bidoof once again before they quickly rushed out of their classroom and down the hall to Mr. Kincaid's.

"Well, this is Mr. Kincaid's classroom. They said the Styler here is out in the open…"

Kate gripped her Styler. "Th-there's Pokemon here," she spoke, pointing out to the Bidoof and Pichu in the room. One Pokemon sat in the back left corner. It looked like a small blue bat. Kate noticed something was held in its feet. "Capture on!" she spoke and pulled the trigger once more. At once the bat flew forward at the Capture Disc. Kate quickly began to swirl her Disc around the bat until finally it returned to her Styler having successfully captured the Pokemon.

The bat flew to her and Kate pet it gently. "N-nice Zubat," she spoke, then gripped the object in its feet. She noticed the object was another Styler. "I-I've got two now."

"You're not bad for someone who just joined today. You're making as a good a time as me, which is really good according to the person that I had with me."

Kate rubbed the back of her neck. "I-I'm not that good." She then became serious. "Now where?"

"Either the Library or the Staff Room. There's one in both of them."

Kate nodded and the two rushed out of Mr. Kincaid's classroom and down the hall once more until they reached the library.

"Even the Library is scary at night," Keith spoke as he looked around. "It's almost as if someone is lurking nearby."

"D-don't say stuff like that!" Kate almost shouted and Keith quickly hushed her. "I-I'm sorry, this is scary. M-maybe we should just quit."

Keith shook his head. "If you want to be a Ranger, you can't be scared. You might end up with a spooky mission one day."

Kate nodded and gulped. She looked around the Library, noticing the few crates on the ground. She then noticed something small was sitting not too far away on one of the tables. She could see it because it was reflecting the moonlight from the window near it. "B-Bidoof, crush that crate!" she spoke up and the Bidoof rushed for the crate in front of them, smashing it apart and clearing a walk space. She then quickly recaptured it before it could run off.

Kate then walked forward, hopping onto the table and grabbing the small object. Once in her hands, she noticed it was the third Styler. "Th-three now!" she spoke up and waved to Keith. The table under her shifted and she screamed as she fell back.

"Careful," Keith spoke with a smile as Kate opened her eyes, noticing he had caught her. "This is why you use Pokemon to clear a path, so you don't stand dangerously on things like that."

Kate blushed and nodded. "Th-thank you." She bowed and Keith rubbed the back of his neck.

"No problem. Guess it's off to the Staff Room now."

Kate nodded and the two quickly made their way out of the Library and across the hall to the Staff Room.

"And here's the Staff Room, the clue for this room is that the Styler we hid doesn't stand still."

"D-doesn't stand still?" Kate asked as she turned from Keith to the Staff Room. She then saw it, a small Pichu not far away that was holding a small device in its hands. She guessed it was the fourth Styler. She rushed forward, but when she did, the Pichu squealed and began to run. "It's running from me…I-I think I get it now." She pulled out her Styler. "Let's try capturing from a distance."

Kate pulled the trigger, unleashing the Capture Disc once more. When she did, the Pichu quickly stood its ground and Kate began to perform loops around it. When the capture was complete, she stepped forward and pet the Pichu carefully, who smiled as she did. "Can I have that please?"

"Pichu," the Pichu spoke happily and handed the Styler to Kate.

"Th-that's all of them," Kate spoke as she turned to Keith.

"Amazing work. Let's head down to the basement then."

Kate nodded and the two quickly headed out of the Staff Room and down into the basement.

"Wh-what's this?" Keith asked as they finished climbing down the stairway. A small wooden fence had been put up to block their path. "I don't remember a target like this one…"

"B-Bidoof, crush it!" the Bidoof rushed forward, hitting the fence hard, but it did nothing.

"Crush isn't going to work on this one, Kate."

Kate bit her lip before turning to her Pokemon. "W-wait, Zubat can use Cut, can't it? Zubat, cut the fence!" The Zubat screeched and flew forward. It let its wing down and its wing began to glow. A moment later, it sailed straight through the fence, cutting it apart. "It worked!"

"Well, I'll be, she figured that one out." Keith spoke and folded his arms over his chest. "She's pretty good."

"L-let's go," Kate spoke, a bit more determined. They walked forward until Keith stopped her.

"Wait, listen." There was a strange sort of sound coming from somewhere nearby. "What the heck is that?"

Kate gripped her Styler tight. "I-I don't…" she spoke and stepped deeper down the hallway.

"There, that door is Mr. Kincaid's office." Keith pointed to a nearby door and Kate nodded. She stepped forward and carefully set the Stylers onto the ground. As soon as she did, the door flew wide open and from it a large gaseous substance flowed out from the room. Keith and Kate screamed and jumped back before the substance solidified into four small orbs with large eyes.

"G-G-G-G-G-G-Gastly!" Kate shouted.

"Run for it!" Keith shouted.

"N-no!" Kate pulled all of her courage together and held her Styler out. "Capture on!" she shouted unleashed the Disc on the Gastly. She quickly began to form a large loop the circled all four of them, and when she did, the Gastly shifted inward. With every loop she made, the Gastly moved closer together, making her loops smaller and smaller. Finally, the final loop was made, and the Styler registered the capture of all four of the Gastly. "D-did I do it?" she asked and the Gastly smiled happily. "I-I did it!"

"Unable to maintain link," Kate's Styler spoke and the four Gastly turned to each other before turning and fading into the walls.

"Wh-what…just happened?" Kate asked.

"Get out of here!" a voice shouted loudly and Kate and Keith shrieked again. It was then that Mr. Kincaid stepped out of his office. "No one is allowed down here in the basement except for me! Go on, get out of here!" he erupted and Kate and Keith quickly rushed away without arguing.

"Who was that?" a voice asked from inside the room.

"Nobody. Just a Bidoof causing trouble." Mr. Kincaid spoke before turning back to walk inside of his office.

. . .

"That was scary!" Keith spoke as he panted for breath. Him and Kate had made it all the way back up to the top floor.

"So, did you do it?" Rhythmi asked.

"Y-yeah, but then Mr. Kincaid appeared and screamed at us."

"Haha, that's Mr. Kincaid for you." Rhythmi smiled and stood proud. "Well, Kate, you got passed your shy exterior long enough to do the test, so for that, I have to say congratulations. You did a great job."

"Th-thank you, Rhythmi," Kate spoke with a smile. She then stepped over and hugged Rhythmi, which caught her a little off guard. She could feel how horribly Kate was shaking and she frowned.

"Oh…I didn't realize how much stress I put on you. You're shaking horribly. Come on, let's get you somewhere private where it can be just the two of us so you can calm down, okay?" Kate nodded, not letting go of Rhythmi. Rhythmi shook her head and smiled as she scooped Kate up in her arms, which made Kate turn beat red. "All right everyone, back to your dorms, nothing to see here. Move along." She then carried Kate back to their dorms.

The night was spent calming Kate down in a more private corner of the room. Finally, when her body was calm, Kate found herself drifting off to sleep and Rhythmi smiled as she gently pet Kate's hair. "You're so cute," she spoke. "I'll let you sleep with me, but just for tonight." And so Kate's first day came to a close. What other adventures awaited her and her new friends? She would only find out in time.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this so far. Please don't forget to hit the review button! I'd love to know your thoughts on the story ^^<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kate yawned as she awoke from her sleep, stretching as she did. "Another day at the Ranger School," she spoke with a smile as she turned to get out of bed.

"You've got mail!" Rhythmi spoke as she suddenly popped up in front of Kate, making her jump back.

"M-mail? For me?"

Rhythmi nodded. "You know, you haven't gotten any mail since you started here a month ago, it's kind of a surprise."

"W-well, I don't really have anyone to send me mail." Kate rubbed the back of her neck.

"What about friends from your old home? Or your family?"

Kate looked away. "I…I never made friends at home."

Rhythmi frowned. "That's sad…" She then smiled. "Well, you have Keith and I!"

"Y-yeah," Kate spoke with a nod as she blushed a little.

"And don't worry, I still won't tell anyone about our little secret." Kate blushed even harder when Rhythmi mentioned that and she quickly buried her face in her hands. "Oh come on, it was just a kiss! Not like we did it or anything!" This made Kate's face turn an even darker crimson color and Rhythmi shrugged. "Anyway, here's your mail." She held out a letter to Kate who took the letter. She then sat down next to her. "So, whose it from?"

Kate looked the envelope over for a moment. "My family," she spoke after a moment, then opened the envelope. She pulled the letter out and began to read it. "'Dear Onee-sama, I hope you are feeling well. I got your letter the other day. The Ranger School sounds so exciting! What you said about that one creepy guy gave me the creeps, but when you mentioned it was an act, I thought it was funny.'"

"You told them about Mr. Kaplan?" Rhythmi asked and Kate nodded.

"I told them everything about my first day."

"Even your eruption?"

Kate blushed at those words before continuing to read. "'Mama and Papa say not to worry about your eruption, and they hope that they are treating you well even though they know. Papa says to never worry, he loves you no matter who you love. I don't quite understand what that means.'"

"So you did tell them."

Kate nodded. "'Mama says the Keith boy sounds cute, and Papa asks if the Kellyn guy is treating you okay. Papa says he sounds kind of creepy. Mama and Papa also want you to know that we're looking into moving to the Almia region. Papa thinks he knows of a place we can move to there. He says he just has to work out everything. I hope that means we'll be able to see each other again soon. I miss you, Onee-sama! Love, your little sister, Mary.'"

"Aww," Rhythmi spoke with a smile. "A Papa, a Mama, and a little sister. I wish I had that."

Kate looked up at Rhythmi. "What do you mean?"

Rhythmi sighed. "I have four siblings. I'm the youngest of them all. They all pick on me a lot." She sighed again. "I've also always wanted to have a little sister, but Papa says that after I was born, he and Mama decided to have no more kids."

"Aww, I'm sorry."

Rhythmi shrugged. "Eh, I've lived that way my whole life, so I don't care."

Kate nodded, then looked down at her letter. "Well, at least I know my family is okay."

"And it's good to hear they support your sexual orientation. Not everyone does…like my Mama."

"You're family doesn't like that your bisexual?" Kate asked as she looked up at Rhythmi and Rhythmi nodded.

"It's true, Mama hates it."

"I'm sorry…" Kate looked down.

"Eh, what does it matter? I don't care. I'm my own person, screw what anyone else thinks." Rhythmi folded her arms and leaned back against the wall behind Kate's bed.

"Family should always love you, though, no matter what."

"Hey, Rhythmi and Kate!" one of the girl students shouted as she flung the door open to the girl's dorm. "You're going to be late for class if you don't hurry."

"Outdoor Class!" Rhythmi and Kate shouted in unison and Rhythmi quickly jumped to her feet. Kate quickly tossed off her pajamas and threw on her school uniform. The two then raced out, down the hall, and down the stairs as they rushed to their classroom.

"No running in the halls!" Mr. Kincaid shouted as Kate and Rhythmi ran past him.

"Sorry, Mr. Kincaid!" Rhythmi shouted before sliding to a stop in front of their classroom door. "We made it just in time." She quickly slid the door open and Kate and Rhythmi rushed in and sat at their desks. No sooner did they sit, then did the bell ring, signaling the beginning of class, and Ms. April stepped into the classroom.

"Good morning, class," Ms. April spoke as she stepped up to the front of the classroom.

"Good morning, Ms. April!" everyone in class shouted in unison. Ms. April then took the roll call, marking only one student as absent that day, which Kate found surprising. It wasn't normal for anyone to be absent, let alone this particular student.

"Well, since everyone except for Mr. Takahashi is here, we'll go ahead and begin. Today we will be having Outdoor Class, as you all know. This means that in a minute we will be walking single-file out the classroom door and into Ascension Square. Everyone knows where that is, right?"

"Yes, Ms. April," everyone responded in unison.

"Good. Now, keep in mind, there will be only one question per person. Pokemon Rangers are very busy, and we can't keep him all day."

"But I had thirty-eight questions I wanted to ask him!" Keith spoke up at once.

Ms. April giggled. "That's why we're limiting it to one question a person, Keith, because I'm sure you all have several questions you want to ask."

"I-I do," Kate spoke up, which made everyone turn. She rarely ever spoke up, and when she did, it was only to answer a question that Ms. April had asked her directly.

Ms. April smiled. "Well, maybe someone else will have the same questions you have. After all, there are a good majority of us here. In fact, it wouldn't hurt for you all to huddle together for a few minutes to go over each other's questions, that way you can all be sure you each have a different question picked, so that nobody asks the question you were going to ask, and then making it so you can't ask."

The classroom nodded in agreement. "All right then, we'll do that. Class, I give you the next five minutes to converse. After that time, I'll call everyone and we'll start heading out."

"Ms. April, will we be joining with Mr. Kincaid's class as well?" one of the female students asked.

"No, dear, we won't. Mr. Kincaid's class has their Outdoor Class scheduled for next week with a different Pokemon Ranger."

"And who is our Ranger?" another student asked.

"You'll find that out when we get out there. Now, you're wasting your time to settle out your questions by asking me questions."

"Right!" the classroom spoke up at once and the class huddled together.

. . .

"Hello, Crawford," Ms. April spoke as she stepped into Ascension Square. Ascension Square was a small section of the ground where a large statue with the symbol of the Pokemon Ranger stood. Next to the statue was a man who was wearing the standard Ranger uniform which consisted of a red short-sleeved vest, a black sleeveless shirt that had a white front to it, and a pair of black shorts. The black fingerless gloves and big red shoes he wore were also part of the uniform. The part that was not was his explosion of an afro. This was Crawford.

"Hello, Ms. April, it's been a while," Crawford spoke.

"Yes, it is, and last time I saw you, you didn't have that explosion of an afro."

Crawford laughed. "Well, I wanted to be unique."

"I see that."

"You're Crawford!" Rhythmi spoke up. "You're the guy who used to give Ms. April trouble every day! You currently hold the record for making Ms. April mad the most in a single day, every day."

"Haha," Crawford spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you know, I only made her mad once every day."

"Try three times," Ms. April spoke with her arms folded over her chest.

"O-oh yeah, heh."

Rhythmi leant close to Kate. "He's kind of cute, except for that afro," she whispered. Kate blinked at Rhythmi, then looked back at Crawford. "Guess you don't see it since you're not into guys."

"Well, anyway, let's get this Outdoor Class started, shall we?" Ms. April spoke up.

"Gladly," Crawford spoke before turning to the students who had assembled in a circle around him. "Welcome everyone to Outdoor Class. I am Pokemon Ranger Crawford of Vientown. I graduated from this Ranger School some time ago, and now I'm back for your Outdoor Class." A small plant-like creature hopped off of Crawford's shoulder. "This is my Partner Pokemon, Budew."

"Awesome! A Ranger with a Partner Pokemon!" one of the students spoke up.

"Don't all Rangers have Partner Pokemon?" another student asked, causing the first student to look nervous.

"Haha, yes, we do," Crawford spoke. "Well, then, all right. Let's go ahead and get to the main event. There's quite a few of you, and I know you all have questions. So, let's go ahead and start up the Question and Answers Section of Terror!" Crawford laughed at his own joke while everyone else just mumbled. "All right, whose first?"

"Oh! Me me!" one of the students shouted. "Why did you become a Pokemon Ranger, Mr. Crawford?"

"Well, I wanted to be close with Pokemon, to form bonds with them. That aside, it's a cool job."

"That's totally the same reason I do as well!" the student spoke up.

"Question!" one of the female students asked. "What kinds of Pokemon are difficult to capture?"

Crawford turned to the girl. "Well, I can really only speak for myself on this, but I've found that Ghost and Psychic types are the hardest. They have a tendency to teleport all over the place, makes them darn near impossible to capture."

"Ghost and Psychics huh?" the girl asked and nodded.

"Me next!" Rhythmi spoke up. "Hello, Crawford, my name is Rhythmi."

"Hello, Rhythmi," Crawford spoke with a nod.

"Tell me, just by looking at me, I'll bet you can tell I'll become a great Operator someday, can't you?"

Crawford blinked. "Err…well, I've never met you before now…so I can't really say…" Crawford rubbed the back of his neck. He then noticed how Rhythmi hung her head. "B-but, yeah. If you keep working your hardest, you'll definitely be a great Operator!"

"Really?" Rhythmi nearly shouted as she looked back up at him.

"Hey, Rhythmi, don't you think you're confusing our Ranger for a fortune-teller?" Keith asked and the class laughed, which made Rhythmi growl. "What about me?" he asked Crawford. "Do you think I'll be a great Ranger?"

"Haha, don't you think you're confusing me for a fortune-teller now?" Crawford asked, which made the class laugh again.

"Guk! Th-that wasn't what I meant to ask…Can I have a redo?"

Ms. April shook her head. "Sorry, Keith, one question per person."

"Aww nuts!"

"I'll tell you this much, your strong will shines through loud and proud. I'm sure you'll make it. Why, you might even have the fixings to make a better Ranger then me! But that's if you can avoid spinning your wheels, so to speak."

"Uh…is that right?" Keith asked as he put his hand to his chin to think about what Crawford said.

"Me next!" a female student spoke up quickly. "Have you ever made any mistakes?"

Crawford stepped back a bit, then rubbed the back of his neck. "A-actually, yeah, several times," he spoke nervously. "Like the time I dumped juice all over my Styler. Oh boy was that ever a mess. Or the time I tried to capture a stuffed doll. That was embarrassing." He rubbed the back of his neck more. "Oh, there was also the time I put my Ranger uniform on over my pajamas. That's another embarrassing one." The class laughed. "Hey, wait a minute, don't make me say things like this!" he whined which only made the class laugh even harder.

After the laughter died down, Kate stepped forward to speak, but just as she did, someone else barged in. "What would you say is your favorite part about being a Ranger?" the student asked and Kate shirked back.

"I'd have to say it's definitely the smiles you get from people and Pokemon alike that brightens your day. Any day I'm feeling down, I go to work and I see all the smiles from the people I help, it just makes it all better."

"Awesome! I hope I get to see smiles like that one day, too!"

"That's the spirit! Work hard and you'll definitely get to. In fact, I'm looking forward to the chance to work with all of you. I hope at least one of you will get stationed in Vientown when you graduate. All right, whose next?" He turned, seeing Kate looking somewhat upset. "How about you, young lady? You look like you've been wanting to ask something."

"W-well, I do have a question," Kate spoke nervously now that she had been singled out by the Ranger himself. "R-Ranger…umm…"

"You can call me Crawford."

"R-right, sorry. Umm…Mr. Crawford…sir…" Kate bit her lip. "I-I wanted to ask…umm…"

Suddenly, there was a strange beeping noise and Crawford quickly pulled out his Styler. "Voicemail! Voicemail!" a voice shouted over the Styler. "Ranger Crawford, can you hear me?"

"Ranger Crawford here, go ahead Barlow."

"Crawford, there's an injured Mantine off the shore of School Island. Seems it ran into a rather large cargo ship. Luana's headed to the school by boat for you. Join up with her and get to the site immediately. We're going to need your help for this one."

"Roger, Leader!" Crawford spoke before shutting his Styler.

"Awesome!" a couple of the students shouted.

"Go save that Mantine!" a couple of the other students shouted.

"No problems," Crawford pushed the hair out of his eyes, spun around, and threw his fist into the air. "I'm coming, Mantine!"

"Awesome! A real Ranger pose!" a couple of the other students shouted.

Crawford turned to Ms. April. "Sorry I have to cut this so short, but I'll definitely report to you on the status of the Mantine, since I can tell everyone is so worried."

Ms. April smiled and nodded. "Don't worry about it; just go do your job." At that moment there was the sound of a boat's horn. "There's your boat."

"Everyone, let's meet up again sometime." With that, Crawford rushed off to the boat and it sailed off quickly.

"Wow," the class spoke as they watched. "We got to see a real Ranger go off on a real mission. How awesome is that?"

Kate looked down. "It…was cool…"

Rhythmi knew at once that Kate wasn't happy. She had been working for some time to build the courage to ask her question, and then Crawford has singled her out, but even still, she had not gotten a chance to ask her question. "Hey, cheer up," she spoke as she put her hand on Kate's shoulder. "You know? I'll bet the Rangers are just like our school, non-judgmental."

"H-how did you know I was going to ask that?" Kate asked as she looked up at her friend.

"Because I know you. You've been mumbling in your sleep about it for the last week, going over the same question over and over, hoping to determine what Crawford was going to say before he said it, hoping you'd be right that they weren't judgmental." Rhythmi grew close and kissed Kate on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll bet you'll be just fine there."

Kate turned red, but though she was blushing from the kiss, she still looked sad. "I-I hope so…" She wrapped her arms around Rhythmi and she noticed Kate was shaking again.

"You know, if it's too much stress, you don't have to do it. I know how nervous you are about everything."

"B-but I want to. I want to be a Ranger. It's been my dream for a long time…"

"Well, if that's what you really want, then go for it. Push away your fears and step out. Once we graduate, I may not be here to help you anymore. I'm going to be an Operator, but I can't guarantee I'll be stationed where you are."

Kate nodded. "I-I know…and that scares me a little…I don't want to be away from you and Keith."

Rhythmi smiled. "Hey, even if we get sent apart, it doesn't matter. What matters isn't how much we see each other, but how much we think about each other, and I'll be thinking of you every day."

Kate pulled away for a moment to look Rhythmi in the eyes. "Thank you, Rhythmi," she spoke before returning to the embrace.

Rhythmi smiled and the two stayed that way for a few moments. "What?" Rhythmi shouted to her class as they had turned their attention to the two of them. "Oh, I get it, you all think something is going on because we're both girls and you all know we both like girls, is that it? We're close friends, and Kate needs me, okay? There's nothing to see here, so just move along."

Ms. April cleared her throat. "Yes, well, anyway, that was probably the shortest Outdoor Class we've ever had," she spoke. "Everyone, you're all dismissed for today. Feel free to relax for the rest of the day and I'll see you all back in class tomorrow."

"Right!" the class spoke and they dispersed.

Ms. April then walked up to Kate and Rhythmi. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked as she put her hand on Kate's back.

"M-Ms. April…" Kate spoke, then pulled away from Rhythmi. "I'm scared…All my life, everyone has always judged me. This school is the first time I've ever been able to go without being judged unless I was home with my family. I-I'm scared that, I'm going to become a Ranger, and then go to work with them, and then they all hate me because I'm…you know…not straight…"

Ms. April reached her arms out and wrapped them around Kate. "I'm sorry, hun. Was that going to be your question for Crawford?"

"Y-yes."

"I'm sorry. I really wish you could have asked it, but I'll bet you anything that the Ranger Union won't judge you. I've schooled most of the Rangers in Vientown, and they're all sweethearts. I'm sure that everything will be okay, all right?"

Kate nodded. "Th-thank you, Ms. April."

Ms. April smiled and looked to Rhythmi. "You've got great friends, Kate." She then turned, noticing Keith had stuck around. "You know, there's an old legend about this place."

"Th-there is?"

Ms. April nodded. "They say that if you make a promise with your friends here that it is sure to come true."

Kate pulled away from Ms. April and turned to the statue. "R-really?"

"That's what they say anyway. Last year, Crawford made a promise to me to become a great Ranger right here at this spot. He's one of the best in Vientown from what I hear, so maybe there is some truth to it."

"What do you say? Should we make a promise?" Rhythmi asked.

Kate nodded. "Yeah. L-let's promise, to become the best we can be."

Keith nodded. "I can agree to that one."

"All right then, it's settled. We all promise to be the best we can be and to never forget each other."

Kate smiled as she looked at Rhythmi. "Yeah, let's never forget each other." She then turned to Keith who nodded. "Keith, Rhythmi…" Tears appeared in her eyes and she wiped them with her hand. "You're the greatest friends I could ever have." She wrapped her arms around both of them and pulled them together into a group hug.

Ms. April smiled. "How about that?" she spoke to herself. "These kids might just have what it takes to become Top Rangers." She turned, heading back for the Ranger School.

. . .

"I don't understand, where is he?" Rhythmi asked as she stared at Keith's desk. He was strangely absent, and he was generally there before either her or Kate got there.

"I don't know," Kate spoke with a frown. "I hope he's not getting himself in trouble."

"Good morning, class," Ms. April spoke as she stepped into the classroom.

"Good morning, Ms. April!" the class spoke up at once.

"Today's lesson is going to be on the relationship between Operators and Rangers." April turned to the class. "But first, you all remember Crawford from Outdoor Class a few days ago?" Everyone nodded in response. "They rescued the Mantine and took it to the Ranger Union. They managed to nurse it back to health and this morning they were going to re-release it back into the ocean."

"Awesome!" everyone shouted.

"Now then, as you all know, Rangers communicate to other Rangers and their Operators through a special transmission, can anyone tell me what it's called?"

"Voicemail!" Rhythmi shouted out at once.

"Very good, Rhythmi. Now, normally you would be able to communicate easily from Styler to Styler, but your School Stylers do not have this feature installed. However, Principal Lamont was able to obtain two Ranger Stylers from the Ranger Union when he was there the other day. We will be using these two show off how the Voicemail system works." She grabbed two red Stylers out of a small bag and held them up. "Let's have…Rhythmi, you be the Operator." She handed one of the Stylers to Rhythmi.

"Awesome! An official Ranger Styler!" Rhythmi spoke with a big grin.

"And, Keith, we'll have you- Where's Keith?" April asked as she noticed Keith was absent.

"I don't know, Ms. April. He never showed up today."

"That's rather strange. Something must be wrong. Well, then, let's have Kate be the Ranger." April handed on of the Stylers to Kate, who immediately shirked back a little. She slowly reached forward and took the Styler into her hand.

"Awesome!" Rhythmi smiled. "Come in, Ranger, can you hear me, Ranger?" she called into the Styler.

"U-umm…Rhythmi…" Kate spoke sheepishly, "I can hear you without the Styler…"

Rhythmi blushed a little. "Err…umm…that's cause we're too close. How about you go out of the classroom and we'll talk from there?"

Kate looked up at Ms. April who nodded. "Okay," Kate spoke and stood to her feet. She made her way to the door of the classroom and just as she reached for it, the door slid open rather quickly which made Kate squeak and fall back.

"No running in the classrooms either," Mr. Kincaid spoke as he stepped into the classroom.

"How can I help you, Mr. Kincaid?" Ms. April asked.

"I need to speak with Keith about something."

"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Kincaid, but Keith is uncharacteristically absent today."

"Absent, you say? Then my suspicions may just be right."

"Excuse me?"

"Ms. April, last night there were seven Stylers in the Staff Room. This morning, there were none."

"Are you saying someone stole them all?"

"I'm saying that exactly!" Mr. Kincaid spoke very stoutly. "I have a hunch it may be Keith. After all, he's always running in the hallways, always causing mischief, and is, as you stated, uncharacteristically absent today. My guess is he pilfered the Stylers and is absent because he is still looking for a place to store them."

"Mr. Kincaid!" Ms. April shouted rather loudly. "Isn't it you who always says not to cast suspicion on others without proof? I have no doubts that Keith is not the thief!"

"That's right!" Rhythmi shouted. "Keith may be a prankster, but he's no thief!"

"Th-that's right!" Kate shouted as she stepped up to him as well. This shocked Mr. Kincaid so much that he put his hand to his chin.

"Well, then, it seems you're all defending him, even the shy one," Mr. Kincaid spoke as he looked to Kate. Kate made no motions to this, trying to maintain the look of defense on her face. "Very well, then. I would like you all to prove me wrong. If I am wrong, I will certainly give my apologies to him."

"All right then, class, we'll be dismissing long enough to find Keith and the stolen Stylers. If anyone finds anything, please report it immediately."

"Right!" the class shouted and dispersed as they began their hunt for the stolen Stylers.

"Let's keep in touch via Voicemail," Rhythmi spoke to Kate who nodded. "All right, you check upstairs, I'll check outside."

Kate nodded again and quickly rushed out the doors of the classroom and up the hallway to the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she quickly threw the door to the boys' dorm open. "This is the boys' dorm," Kellyn spoke as he looked up from his bed. He was currently sitting on his bed with a book in his hands.

"I-I'm sorry," Kate spoke quickly. "I-I was looking for Keith!"

"Keith? He hasn't been here since this morning. He wandered out earlier than normal, but that was the last I saw of him."

Kate bit her lip. "That doesn't help his case any…"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"H-he's being accused of stealing the school's supply of Stylers."

Kellyn chuckled. "Really? And they actually believe he could of done it?" He shook his head. "That boy wouldn't be capable of anything of the sort."

"I-I know, which is why I am trying to find him."

"I recommend checking outside. If Stylers were stolen, he probably tried to find the culprit who stole them, and by now, the culprit would have gotten outside by now."

Kate's Styler began to beep and she looked down at it. "Voicemail! Voicemail! This is Rhythmi. Come in, Kate!"

"I-I'm here, Rhythmi!" Kate responded quickly.

"Come outside quickly! We need you!"

Kate nodded and quickly rushed out. Kellyn simply shrugged and went back to his book. "I-I'm here!" Kate spoke quickly as she threw the doors to the Ranger School open and rushed out. She nearly ran into Rhythmi in her rush.

"Whoa there, calm down a bit, Kate," Rhythmi spoke. "You don't need to be in that much of a rush."

"B-but you said to come quickly."

Rhythmi rubbed the back of her neck. "Eh…hehe…yeah, sorry about that." Rhythmi then pointed forward. "Look, see that?"

"It's a School Styler!" Kate rushed forward and snatched up the Styler that was lying on the ground.

"There's another one over there. They seem to lead out to the school gates."

"Then let's go." Kate rushed forward, gripping her own Styler firmly as they rushed. They made their way forward and down the stairs that led to the school gates. It was there they found Keith standing there, staring at a man who was up against a tree. "Keith! There you are!"

Keith turned to Kate. "Kate, this guy stole some of the School Stylers!"

Kate turned to the man, noticing he was in his twenties. He had brown hair and wore a rather simple outfit consisting of a white t-shirt and brown pants. "You're the thief?"

The man looked them over for a moment before stepping back. "H-hey now, three-on-one isn't fair. I'm out of here!" He turned and rushed forward, only to run straight into the tree in front of him. When he did, a small brown creature fell from the tree, knocking him over, knocking the remaining stolen Stylers out of his hand and onto the ground next to him. "Sl-Slakoth!" he shouted. "Augh! Get it off of me!"

"Serves you right!" Keith spoke with a nod before stepping forward and snatching up the Stylers. "I'll take these, thank you."

"What's going on here?" Rhythmi asked.

"This guy stole some of the School Stylers then tried to sneak out of the Staff Room. I called out to him and BAM! He starts running! So, I took off after him till I chased him here. The school gates were closed and locked, so he couldn't get out, and after I caught up to him, you two came running."

"Help!" the man shouted as he continued to squirm under the lazy Pokemon.

"We should help him," Rhythmi spoke.

"Why? He's getting what he deserves."

"A Pokemon Ranger helps anyone in need!" Kate spoke up rather uncharacteristically. She then blushed and quickly held up her Styler.

"An official Ranger Styler?" Keith asked.

"While you were busy chasing thieves, Ms. April was busy teaching us about Voicemail," Rhythmi responded. "She gave Kate and I a Ranger Styler so we could demonstrate it."

"Cool!"

Kate gripped the Styler firmly and pulled the trigger. "Capture on!" she shouted, unleashing the Capture Disc. At once the Slakoth began to shift. As the Disc neared it, it swung its arm out, striking the Disc and sending it flying back at Kate.

"Watch out, Kate!" Rhythmi shouted. "This thing is different from the calm Bidoof we usually deal with. This one is aggressive because it was knocked out of its tree!"

Kate nodded and brought the Capture Disc back around towards the Slakoth. It watched the Disc carefully as she made a rather large loop, keeping the Disc out of its reach. With each loop, she shrunk the loop's size little by little. Finally, the final loop captured the lazy Pokemon, and the Disc returned to the Styler. "Slakoth, please get off of that guy now."

"Sla," the Slakoth spoke with a yawn before climbing back up into its tree.

"You did it, Kate!" Rhythmi spoke and rushed over to Kate, hugging her tight.

Kate smiled, then turned back to the man at her feet. "D-don't ever d-do something like this a-again, g-got it?" she shouted, trying to sound fierce.

"I promise!" the man shouted before bursting out into tears.

"Arceus' sake, what's going on here?" Ms. April asked as she stepped down the stairs.

"Th-this man stole the Stylers. Keith, Rhythmi, and I got them back," Kate spoke up.

"Did you, now? Amazing." Ms. April then turned to the man. "Why did you do this?"

"I-I wanted to be a Pokemon Ranger when I was young, b-but I never did anything about it. S-so I thought, I would steal a Styler. Then I could be close to Pokemon."

"You idiot!" Ms. April shouted and the man shirked back. "Don't you understand? The Ranger School accepts people of any age! You don't have to be a child to join!"

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Teacher Lady!" the man burst into tears once again.

Ms. April folded her arms over her chest. "Why did you steal all of them if you just wanted one?"

"W-well, I got to the Staff Room, and I saw them all lying there. I grabbed one at first, but then, I just couldn't help it."

"So you're greedy?" Ms. April shook her head. "Go home."

"Wh-what?"

"Go home and think about what you did. If you come to your senses, then you can come back and try learning at the Ranger School to become a proper Ranger."

"Th-thank you, Miss Teacher Lady!" the man spoke up and Ms. April unlocked the gate for the man to run out.

"All right, here's what's going on," Ms. April spoke. "We'll explain the situation, but we're going to pretend he just got away."

"But why?" Keith asked. "Why didn't we hold him? He was a thief!"

"And have you ever stolen anything in your life?"

"Well…yes…once…"

"And did you go to jail for it?"

"N-no…"

Ms. April nodded. "I'm giving him another chance. If he fails, then he will be dealt with accordingly."

"I see." Keith nodded. "It still makes no sense."

Ms. April shook her head. "Come on."

. . .

"And so, thanks to the bravery of Keith, Rhythmi, and Kate, the Stylers were returned," Ms. April spoke to her class. "Let this be a lesson to us all. Shadows lurk in all of our hearts, we must not let it control us. Vatonage: it means to reawaken light that has been submerged in darkness. Today, everyone shines with light like gems. May you never lose that shine. I'll see you all tomorrow for our next class. Dismissed."

Everyone stood, gave a bow, and then headed out. Kate and Rhythmi returned their Ranger Stylers back to Ms. April, who thanked them. The two of them returned to their dorms where they relaxed. Kate wrote a response to her sister's letter, explaining the occurrences of the day like always. As the day came to a close, they lied down in their beds and went to sleep. The adventure for this day was over, while another adventure in their lives would begin soon.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this so far. Please don't forget to hit the review button! I'd love to know your thoughts on the story ^^<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Mail's here," Rhythmi spoke as she handed Kate a letter.

"Thanks, Rhythmi," Kate spoke as she finished pulling her hair up into her ponytails, then took the letter.

"From your family. again?"

"Who else?"

Rhythmi nodded. "Good point. What's it say?"

"'Hello, Onee-sama!'" Kate spoke as she read the letter. "'You're last letter was amazing! Papa says he's really sorry you didn't get to ask your question, but not to worry. He says Rangers aren't judgmental…I don't know what that means, though. Also, I loved what you said about the Voicemail thing. That sounds awesome! Papa says he's really proud of you! Oh! We're going to be moving! Papa found a spot near Chicole Village that we're going to move to! We'll be there for your graduation! Love, your little sister, Mary."

"Aww, your family will be all moved here in time for your graduation, that's so sweet," Rhythmi spoke, "I bet you can't wait to see them. It's too bad graduation won't be for a few more months, though."

Kate nodded but then turned to Rhythmi and smiled. "But, they'll be here for it, and that's what's important."

"We should hurry up and get to class. Remember, today is our one-day internships."

"Oh yeah!" Kate jumped to her feet and quickly threw on her school uniform. Rhythmi and her then stepped to the door, where Rhythmi stopped her and twirled her around. The next thing she knew, Rhythmi had pressed her against the door. "R-Rhythmi?"

"I…won't be seeing you today. I have to go all the way to the Ranger Union for my internship and yours is going to be in Vientown." Rhythmi grew closer to her and Kate blushed heavily as she felt Rhythmi's breath upon her neck. "Promise me you'll be okay."

"R-Rhythmi…"

"I know you've had your difficulties here. Today, you're going out into the world and you're going to be a Ranger for a day. It's likely going to be the roughest day you've ever had. I just want you to promise me that you won't crack. Promise me you'll be strong."

"R-Rhythmi," Kate paused for a moment. "I-I promise."

"Good." Rhythmi smiled as she gently pushed her lips upon Kate's neck and gently bit down on her.

"I-is this really okay?"

"Why?" Rhythmi asked as she pulled away. "Is something wrong?"

"W-well, shouldn't we be getting to class? I mean…I don't think-"

Rhythmi put her finger to Kate's lips. "You don't need to think, just let things happen." Her hand gently pressed upon Kate's breast and she moaned slightly. Rhythmi then moved in, returning to the moment as she gently began to bite along Kate's neck, making her moan. Rhythmi's hand gently cupped Kate's breast and rubbed it carefully. Her hand then passed through the button-up shirt of the uniform and firmly gripped onto Kate's breast, making her quiver a little. "There isn't time to go any further," she spoke into Kate's ear. "But maybe we'll do more when we get back."

Rhythmi smiled as she pulled herself away, noticing Kate was now a deep shade of crimson. As a final tease, she pleased her lips upon Kate's, but she hadn't anticipated Kate easing into the kiss. So, Rhythmi decided to press the issue by gently sliding her tongue into Kate's mouth, then gently began massaging Kate's tongue with her own. Rhythmi did not stop there, though, as she pressed the issue further by re-groping Kate's breast, which made Kate gently moan into her mouth.

Rhythmi slowly pulled away from the kiss for a single moment. 'I think I'm beginning to love you," she spoke with a smile.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

Rhythmi giggled. "I love how you feel, how you react. I love every bit of you, and I think I want more." Rhythmi quickly undid Kate's tie, throwing it aside. She then began to unbutton Kate's shirt. If Kate could have turned any redder, she surely would have. Rhythmi's next move was to strip Kate's jacket and shirt off in a single move before pushing her to the ground. The next several minutes were spent in a very intimate moment between the two.

. . .

"Has anyone seen Kate or Rhythmi?" Ms. April asked as she looked at the two empty desks in her classroom. There were a few murmurs, but no one spoke directly. "No one? I wonder where they are…it's very uncharacteristic for them to be absent."

"Maybe they're absent for a reason like I was?" Keith asked, referring to the robbery of the School Stylers.

"I hope not."

"Sorry we're late!" Rhythmi shouted as she slid the door open. She and Kate looked rather flustered and Kate's uniform was jumbled.

"There you two are. Mind telling us what you two were up to?"

"Th-that is…we were just…" Rhythmi spoke at first, but she couldn't come up with an excuse.

"I-I overslept, Ms. April," Kate spoke up. "Rhythmi tried to wake me several times, but I kept going back to sleep. I had a restless night, so I didn't sleep well, and didn't want to wake."

"Is that so?" Ms. April asked in a rather unbelieving tone. Kate nodded, hoping her lie had gone undetected. She didn't really feel like explaining that Rhythmi had been having her way with her. Finally, after a moment Ms. April shrugged. "Well, let's just hope it doesn't affect your work today. Have a seat."

"Y-yes, Ms. April," Rhythmi and Kate spoke before taking their seats at their desks.

"Well, then, class, I'll cut this short. You know what today is. Be careful on your way out today. Remember to take the most direct path possible to your destination. There are a lot of shadows out there looking to do harm to kids your ages, so be careful and good luck. I hope to see you all back tonight. Dismissed!"

The class dispersed and Kate stood up from her desk. She walked towards the classroom door and was stopped by Keith. "You're going to Vientown, right?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"I'm going there, too. Why don't we go together?"

Kate smiled and nodded. She would have someone with her after all. She had been so worried she'd be alone the whole time. She had come accustomed to having people around her now, specifically her friends Keith and Rhythmi. "Let's go, then." The two headed out of the Ranger School and out the school gates.

"So, what did you two really do?" Keith asked and Kate tripped, turning a very deep crimson. "Ah ha! So you didn't just oversleep, did you?"

Kate buried her face in the dirt and mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that? Your face is in the dirt."

Kate pulled her face up. "I'm not telling you," she spoke again.

"Oh come on, I can keep a secret." Keith kneeled down next to Kate. "Let me guess, you and Rhythmi had a little intimate moment didn't you?" Kate buried her face back in the dirt and Keith roared out in laughter. "It's so funny to see you get embarrassed!"

Kate growled and quickly reached up, pulling Keith's leg out from under him and knocking him over. "You have to swear you won't tell anyone!" she shouted after pulling her face from the dirt.

"But it's awesome! The whole school would love to hear about this!"

"Swear it!" Kate shouted as she pulled herself out of the dirt. "I don't care what happens to my reputation, but Rhythmi…" She looked away.

"You care for her a lot, don't you?" Keith spoke with a smile.

"Sh-she…she was always there when I needed her...right from the beginning."

Keith nodded. "I understand. All right, I swear I won't tell anyone."

"You swear that if you do Arceus can kill you with fire?"

"Well, I doubt the God of the Universe would do such a thing just for me breaking a promise, but, yeah. I swear that if I tell anyone Arceus can come strike me down with fire." Keith smiled and Kate was about to smile before he added his next line. "Well, unless I tell Rhythmi, but that would just be for the fun of it." Kate slammed Keith over the head with a massive hammer that materialized out of nowhere.

"Come on," Kate spoke, dragging Keith's motionless form away by foot.

. . .

"H-hello?" Kate called out as she stepped into the Ranger Base in Vientown.

Keith stepped forward, looking around. There was nobody in the base at all from what he could see. "Weird…why is there nobody here?" he asked.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" a voice spoke suddenly and they turned to see a young woman with shoulder-length purple hair stand up from behind a nearby counter. "I dropped something and I bent over to pick it up for just a second. I didn't even hear you come in."

"It's no sweat," Keith spoke with a smile. "Where are the Rangers?"

"Oh, it was so horrible!" the girl shouted. Kate guess she must have been the local Operator as she wore a blue vest and mini-skirt with a white button-up shirt under it. "They were all called away for an emergency mission!"

"An emergency mission that called them all way?" Keith shouted, rather shocked. "What happened?"

"It was just so awful, I can't say, but…those poor Bidoof!" Tears began to roll down the operator's cheeks and Keith began to quickly wave his arms.

"U-umm, well, I-I'm sure everything will be okay with them all on the case!"

"Oh, that reminds me!" the operator spoke and quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "They told me that, if they weren't back before you two got here, I was to give you a super important mission!"

"An important mission? For us?" Keith looked back at Kate who nodded seriously. "If they trust us enough, then we'll definitely do it!"

The operator nodded. "This package," she spoke before pulling a rather large package out from under the desk and setting it on the counter. "It needs to be delivered straight to Breeze Hill immediately!"

"Delivered to Breeze Hill, huh?" Keith looked to Kate who again nodded very seriously. "All right, if it's that important, we'll do it!"

"Oh good! When you take it remember never to flip it on its side, and never, I mean never, flip it upside down! Breeze Hill is just to the west. Take the path west until you find some stairs that lead south. You'll find a beach there. From the beach, make your way west until you see the stairs the lead up into Breeze Hill."

Keith and Kate nodded very seriously. "All right, let's do it!" Keith and Kate pulled out their Stylers and Kate did a twirl before holding her Styler up into the air, pulling the trigger just enough to engage the Capture Wand but not enough to release the Disc. Keith on the other hand performed a twirl in the opposite direction before thrusting his Styler forward, also engaging the Capture Wand.

"Oh! You even have Ranger poses already! How wonderful!" the operator spoke with a smile.

"Let's go!" Kate and Keith quickly rushed out of the base, heading towards Breeze Hill.

. . .

"Kate, look!" Keith shouted and quickly grabbed Kate, pulling her into the overgrowth nearby. "It's the other Rangers! This must be where the emergency mission is taking place!"

Kate nodded. "Y-yeah, they must have need of whatever is in this package," she spoke and held up the package. "We should go find out what's going on."

Keith nodded. "I-I'm nervous…" he spoke. "All right, here we go." Keith pulled all of his courage together and jumped out of the overgrowth. "He-hellomeetcha!" he shouted suddenly and Kate smacked her forehead as the Rangers around them jumped.

One of the Rangers, a rather short but muscular man turned. His skin was dark, and was so far the only dark skinned person they had seen. His brown hair had been cut rather short and he wore the standard Ranger uniform. He stepped forward, and Keith felt as if the very ground beneath him was shaking. "Did I just hear you shout 'hellomeetcha'?" the man asked very seriously. His face showed a slight twinge of anger. "Are you nervous?" Keith nodded very slowly. He folded his big arms over his chest. "Well, I guess that's not too much of a surprise," he spoke, his face mellowing a little, but still showing severe seriousness. "After all, this is a key mission."

"So, the very important package, I expect that it got here safely and unharmed?" the man asked and Keith nodded. "Hand it over, but carefully. One wrong move and it's KA-PLOW!" he shouted the last part as loud as he could which made Keith and Kate jump back nervously. Kate slowly reached out, handing the package to the man. "All right, that does it, nice and easy." He took the package into his hand and smiled as he quickly whipped around. "All right, everyone! Gather round! Lunch is here!"

Kate and Keith blinked confusedly. "L-lunch?" Keith asked.

"Awesome, I was getting impatient for this!" a girl spoke as she stepped forward. She was dressed in a red uniform with a yellow apron that covered only from the waist down. Her brown hair had been pulled up and spiked into a million little curly spikes.

One of the Rangers began to laugh and Kate immediately recognized him as Crawford. "Oh, the stunned looks on your faces!" he spoke to Keith and Kate. "It's great!"

Kate then noticed another girl off to the side who had shoulder-length black hair that she had curled up in the back. She, too, wore the standard Ranger uniform, making the brown haired girl the odd one out. Kate guessed the other girl was not a Ranger as she also did not have a Partner Pokemon with her like the rest did.

The muscular man stepped back, avoiding a large blanket that Keith and Kate had not previously noticed on the ground. It was red and white striped like a picnic blanket. "Good work, you two," the muscular man spoke with a smile. "This mission is cleared. My name is Barlow, I'm the leader of this Ranger Base." He waved to a small Pokemon at his side that had two large black spots on its hands looking almost like gloves. The rest of the Pokemon was a solid light brown color except for its two eyes which looked closed. "This is my Partner Pokemon, Makuhita."

"Nice to meet you," Kate and Keith spoke very formally and gave a bow.

"Oh, by the way, this little prank? It wasn't my doing. You owe that one all to Crawford. It's become a sort of tradition since he joined."

"I was the last one to do it," the black haired woman spoke. "I was careless with the package, though, so by the time it got here, the lunch was crushed." She rubbed the back of her neck. "By the way, my name is Luana, and this is my Partner Pokemon, Buneary." She waved to a small brown bunny-like creature at her side that had rings of fluff around its waist and small balls of fluff on its ears and feet.

"I'm not a Ranger, as you might have guessed," the curly brown haired woman spoke with a smile. "I'm a mechanic. My name is Elaine. Don't worry, though, if you can't remember all of these names at once.

"I'm Keith, and this quiet girl here is Kate," Keith spoke and waved towards Kate. "Sorry if she doesn't talk much. She's very shy, and tends to shut up at large gatherings like this."

Kate nodded and bowed.

Barlow smiled. "There's no reason to be nervous around us, dear. We won't hurt you or anything."

Kate looked down. "Th-thank you," she spoke before bowing again.

"You're that girl from Outdoor Class!" Crawford spoke. "Hey, I want to say sorry to you. You looked like you had an important question for me, and I had to run off on that mission before you had a chance to properly ask it."

Kate blushed and began to look around nervously. She had hoped that wouldn't have come up. "I-it's okay," she spoke very timidly.

"So, Keith and Kate, reporting for your one-day internship, yes?" Barlow asked.

Keith nodded. "Yes, sir!"

"Good to hear. I'm sure you'll all enjoy being with us."

"All right, enough introductions!" Crawford spoke up. "Leader, let's feast on that very important package!" Barlow nodded and set the package down, opening it up to reveal a large picnic basket inside.

"Yay! I'm famished!" Luana shouted. Barlow opened the basket and Kate and Keith's eyes went wide. A large assortment of sandwiches and fruits were inside the basket.

"All right, let's get down to it. Welcome to our trainee-welcoming lunch!" Barlow spoke with a smile. "Dig in everyone!"

"The food looks great! Not like when Luana brought it!" Elaine shouted.

"Hey!" Luana shouted back. "I was young and careless."

"It was last year…" Elaine spoke and Luana grumbled. The group sat down and began to dig into the food. They all smiled as they ate and conversed about various topics. Kate began to slowly grow a little less nervous, and had even spoke out once or twice during it. That was, until Crawford had a realization.

"Oh yeah, Kate," Crawford spoke. "What were you going to ask during Outdoor Class?"

Kate blushed heavily and she began to look around again. "I-it's…nothing!" she shouted. "Nothing, I…nothing!"

Crawford frowned. "You sure? You looked like your question was rather important. I just want to make sure it got answered."

Keith bent close to Kate. "Go ahead and ask," he spoke. "Wouldn't hurt any, would it? You were going to ask at Outdoor Class and then moped for three days that you didn't get to."

Kate looked down. She had honestly hoped the topic wouldn't come up, but it had. "I…that is…umm…"

"Either you ask or I will," Keith spoke very seriously and this made Kate's entire body begin to shake nervously.

Her heart was pounding loudly and her body was shaking almost violently as she opened her mouth. "W-well…you see…umm…that is…" she looked away, biting her lip and throwing her eyes shut. She just couldn't work up the courage to ask it.

"It's okay, dear," Barlow spoke as he quickly rushed to her side. "Look, just let it come out when you're ready, don't force it, okay?" He took Kate's hands and she quickly pulled away. Barlow blinked confusedly for a moment before he waved to Luana. She gave him a cock-eyed look before he waved his head towards her, beckoning her over. Luana stood to her feet and stepped over to Kate, kneeling down and placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, calm down a bit, okay?" Luana spoke sweetly. "I'm here now." Kate's body continued to shake as she looked up into the sweet eyes of Luana. Tears appeared in her eyes and she pushed her face into Luana's chest, which shocked her a bit. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm scared!" Kate suddenly burst out and Luana looked up at Barlow. He gave a nod and she looked back down.

"Why are you scared?"

"Because…I'm different then everyone else," Kate spoke as she sniffled. "I've always wanted to be normal…but everywhere I go, people judge me for who I am." Her sniffling became worse and Luana wrapped her arms around Kate.

"Kate, listen, no matter what's wrong, no one here will judge you, okay?"

"Y-you don't understand, I'm not normal," Kate choked out. "I'm a lesbian, and I'm scared…"

Luana blinked a bit in confusion before she smiled. "Oh, honey, is that all it is?" Kate looked up at Luana, a bit confused by that statement. "Kate, just because you like girls doesn't mean you're a horrible person. In fact, I say 'Anyone who thinks that you're unnatural and evil just because you like the same sex can be damned!'"

Kate sniffled as she continued to look at Luana. "Y-you mean that?"

Luana nodded. "Yeah, and we all think that, isn't that right, everyone?"

"Yeah!" Barlow spoke with a smile and a fist pump.

Crawford nodded geekly. "Definitely."

"I agree!" Elaine shouted right away.

"See? Nobody at our Ranger Base will judge you, and if you get assigned elsewhere and they do, you just call us and ole Barlow here will come knock some sense into them, okay?"

Kate sniffled and turned to Barlow who chuckled. "That's right. Not a Ranger yet who's beaten me in an arm wrestle. I'm the strongest there is, so I'll definitely do that for you."

"Th-thank you," Kate spoke with a smile before wiping her tears.

"Was that what you wanted to ask?" Crawford asked. "If we'd judge you for being a lesbian?" Kate nodded quietly. "Well, now you know. We're all here for you, no matter what happens."

"Th-thank you, everyone." Kate pulled away from Luana before giving each one of them a hug, including Keith.

"H-hey now, I thought you were a lesbian," Keith spoke.

"Doesn't mean I can't hug a friend, does it?" Kate asked before flicking his nose.

Keith chuckled a little. "Yeah, I guess not."

"Help!" a female voice screamed and the Rangers quickly jumped to their feet. A moment later and a young girl of about sixteen who was dressed in a bikini came rushing towards them. "Help! Rangers!"

"What's wrong?" Barlow asked.

"M-my boyfriend…we were swimming in Nabiki Beach when we saw a big cargo ship pass by. Suddenly, the Pokemon started acting crazy! They've swarmed all over my boyfriend and they won't let him go!"

"Rangers!" Barlow bellowed as he turned back to his Rangers. "Lunchtime's over! We've got an emergency mission!"

"Right!" the Rangers shouted. Barlow pumped his fists together before pumping the air. Crawford gave out a billowing laugh before putting his hand up to his forehead in an L shape. Luana's Ranger pose seemed the most normal as she simply twirled and held out her hands.

"Keith, Kate, you come, too. You're interns, so this is partly your job as well."

"Understood!" Keith and Kate spoke, saluting to attention. All of the nervousness was gone in an instant and Kate was serious. They all quickly rushed down to Nabiki Beach where they found five Pokemon swarming around a young boy. He was no older then sixteen and wore a pair of blue swim trunks.

"Capture those Pokemon, go go go!" Barlow shouted.

"Right!" the Rangers shouted and rushed forward. Barlow stopped one of the small pink slug-like Pokemon in its tracks, while Crawford did the same to another of the same type. Lauana rushed forward, stopping suddenly as she surveyed the scene. Three were left, and with their friends being stopped by Rangers, these three were crying out, as if in pain.

One was a small blue creature that had a large mouth almost the length of its entire head. Another was a small bird, while the third seemed to catch Kate's attention almost instantly. It was a small-squirrel like creature with white fur. A blue streak went down its back and also covered the points of its ears. It's bushy tail seemed to have small harmless spikes on the end of it as well. "Wh-what do I capture?" Luana asked as she bit her lip. "They're all crying…but I can't catch them all at once…What do I do?"

Kate looked at Luana, then to Keith, who, seeing Luana in her state had also frozen up. Kate turned, hearing the cries of the Pokemon in front of her. Tears came to her eyes as she listened to their cries. Finally, she whipped out her Styler and rushed ahead. "Capture on!" she shouted and pulled the trigger on her Styler, unleashing the Capture Disc. She quickly began to circle her Styler in a rather large circle, circumferencing all three Pokemon. As she looped around them, she brought the loop in closer, forcing the Pokemon closer together.

"Please stop crying!" Kate shouted and made the final loop which connected her heart to those of the Pokemon. In an instant, they stopped and turned to Kate. The three Pokemon squawked loudly and rushed to her side, brushing up against her. "I…I did it?" she asked as she looked down at the three Pokemon she had now befriended. "I can't believe it…"

"She did it," Luana spoke, her eyes wide.

"I've never seen a capture like that," Keith remarked.

Kate smiled as she dropped to her knees and began to pet the Pokemon she had successfully captured. Luana shifted her weight onto one leg and put her hand on her hip. "What do you know? She's really good."

Barlow turned after his capture and noticed the three Pokemon around Kate. He then turned to Luana who stepped up to him. "Did she…?"

"Catch all three herself?" Luana asked. "Yeap. Amazing, isn't it?"

"Very." Barlow pressed a button on his Styler, which sent the Shellos running back to the nearby cavern. He then turned to Crawford, who had just performed the same move. "Crawford, look at this."

Crawford turned and noticed Kate was sitting on the beach with the Pokemon she had captured. "Amazing. A triple capture?"

Barlow nodded. "Yeah." He stepped up right behind Kate. "Such a shy little thing, and yet you can do something as amazing as this."

Kate jumped and whirled around. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Kate, you captured three Pokemon at once. That's a very hard feat to accomplish."

"I-it is?"

Barlow nodded.

"I-I don't know what came over me. I just…couldn't stand to hear these Pokemon cry out like they were. I had to do something…"

"So you ran forward and captured them all."

Kate nodded. "I-I've done it before, too…I captured four Gastly…"

"She did," Keith spoke. "I saw it all with my own eyes."

"Four Gastly?" Barlow asked, astounded. "Ghost Pokemon are near impossible to catch!" He turned back to Kate. "Kate…ou may be the best Ranger ever, and I'm not just saying that."

Kate blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "I-I'm really not that good."

"Yes, you are," Luana spoke as she stepped over to Kate with a smile. "You did amazing." She then turned to Barlow. "L-Leader, I must ask your forgiveness…I heard the Pokemon crying out so loudly and I froze. I couldn't do anything because I knew I couldn't capture them all, but there was no way I was going to help them capturing them separately. I froze up…I apologize." She bowed.

Barlow shook his head. "A Ranger cannot hesitate. A ranger must be willing to do whatever is necessary when necessary." He then turned to Kate. "Like Kate. She demonstrated an amazing talent today."

Kate smiled and the squirrel-like creature hopped up on her shoulder and nuzzled her. "Seems that Pachirisu has taken a liking to you," Luana spoke with a smile. "It would make a fine Partner Pokemon."

"R-really?" Kate asked with a smile. "Oh, please, could I keep it?"

Barlow folded his massive arms over his chest and closed his eyes as he looked down. "Your Styler is a School Styler, as such it cannot handle Partner Pokemon at this time. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it. You will need to be a real Pokemon Ranger before you can have a Partner Pokemon."

Kate looked down. "I-I see." She turned to her Pachirisu and lifted it off her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Pachirisu, but I have to let you go now, okay?" She set it down and pet it before pushing the release button on her Styler for all of her Pokemon. The bird and blue creature rushed away, but the Pachirisu stayed and stared. "G-go on, you're free."

"Pachi pachi," the Pachirisu spoke before rubbing against Kate's leg.

"Did you release it?" Barlow asked and Kate nodded. "I see. So it's feelings for you are just that heavy…" Barlow sighed as he once again folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. "Nothing we can do then. Kate, you'll have to find a way to shake it off you. If it wants to be your Partner, it'll have to wait until you graduate."

"Do you understand, Pachirisu?" Kate asked as she knelt down next to it and it smiled. "I can't take you along, not yet. Please, just…stay here, okay?"

"There's a legend to this beach," Luana spoke.

"There is?" Keith asked and Luana nodded.

"They say that anyone you meet here, you will become great friends with," Crawford spoke. "I met my Partner Pokemon here, too."

"So, you think the legend is true, then?"

Crawford shrugged. "Who knows? I'm not the only one who has had that happen, so it's certainly possible."

"Pachirisu…" Kate spoke as she stared at the small creature. "I just can't take you with me, okay? You have to go."

"Pachi…" the Pachirisu spoke as it frowned.

Kate sighed. "Mr. Barlow…umm…sir…I just…don't think I can do this…" Kate spoke as she stood to her feet. "I just can't let it go."

Barlow nodded. "I understand how you feel. When I met my Partner Pokemon it was the same way." He folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, sighing once more. "What to do?"

"Maybe you can make a promise?" Keith recommended and Kate turned to look at him. "Promise Pachirisu that you'll be back to the beach as soon as you become a Pokemon Ranger, and that you'll definitely take it with you then."

"W-would that be okay, Pachirisu?" Kate asked as she knelt back down to the creature's level. "If I come back for you when I become a Ranger?"

"Pachi pachi!" the Pachirisu spoke happily. "Pachi pachi pachi!" It ran around Kate for a moment before sticking its tail in her face. "Pachi!"

Kate smiled and gently pet the small creature. "Thank you for understand, Pachirisu."

"Say, why don't you keep it for now?" Barlow spoke suddenly which shocked Kate. "You're an intern, why not get a grasp for what having a Partner Pokemon is like? Just remember to let it go before you go back to the school."

Kate smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Barlow!" she wrapped her arms around him, which made him blush a little. He felt like a father giving his daughter the gift she had always dreamed of owning.

"Haha, all right, come on now," Keith spoke as he pulled Kate off of Barlow. "We've got a lunch to clean up."

Barlow smiled and shook his head. "No need. You two go ahead and return to the base. We'll clean it up."

"Wh-what? We couldn't let you do that…" Keith spoke quickly.

"I insist. You brought us the food, and you helped us capture these Pokemon. Leave the cleanup of lunch to us Rangers. Besides, it'll give Kate more time to be with her Pachirisu."

Kate smiled as her Pachirisu climbed onto her shoulder and she giggled. "Pachirisu…"

"So, what are you going to nickname it?" Luana asked and Kate blinked in confusion. "Once she's your Partner, you'll be able to name her."

"Her?" Kate turned to her Pachirisu. "How can you tell?"

"Look right here on its forehead," Luana spoke and pointed to the stripe on its forehead that went down its back and down its tail. "Notice how it ends at its ears?"

"Yeah."

"A boy's mark ends down near its eyes."

Kate blinked. "So it's a girl Pachirisu then…" Kate spoke and snuggled the creature. "That makes me even happier."

"So, what are you going to name it, then?"

Kate thought for a moment. "Pachi?"

Luana giggled. "How very unoriginal."

Kate blushed. "C-could you think of something better?"

Luana looked at the creature for a moment then smiled. "Emily. Definitely Emily."

"E-Emily? Why?"

"Cause I like that name."

Kate blushed. "D-do you like that name?" she asked the Pachirisu who immediately chirped its agreements. "Th-then Emily it is! Emily the Pachirisu!"

Luana nodded and turned, noticing Barlow and Crawford were heading off. "I better go help." She turned to Kate and gave her a light kiss on the cheek, which made her turn beat red. "You're very cute, you know that? I bet you'll make a great Ranger. Just never give up hope, okay?" Kate nodded slowly and Luana rushed off.

"Why do you get all the cute girls?" Keith blurted out as he stepped next to Kate, his arms behind his head.

"Because I'm cute?" Kate asked as she looked at Keith. "At least…that's what Rhythmi and Luana have said…"

Keith shrugged. "Meh, whatever." He turned towards Vientown. "Let's head back to the Ranger Base."

Kate nodded and her Pachirisu hopped on her head. "Emily…" she spoke as she looked at it. "I like that name, too."

. . .

The sun was setting as Kate and Keith stood before the Rangers of the Vientown Ranger Base. "Well, I guess this is good-bye for now," Barlow spoke.

"It's been great working with you two," Luana spoke with a smile.

"Maybe you two will get assigned to Vientown," Crawford spoke. "We'll make sure to keep you busy delivering our lunches." He laughed at his own joke, even though neither Kate nor Keith found it particularly funny.

"You know, Crawford here was so happy when he heard you'd be coming," Luana admitted and Crawford looked away. "You were always saying 'I get to see those kids from Outdoor Class again' weren't you?"

Crawford blushed. "Err…well, that is…I was just…worried that's all!"

"About Kate and her question?" Luana asked and Crawford nodded. "Yeap, that was definitely it, wasn't it?" Luana asked sarcastically before giggling. Crawford turned his nose up at her.

"Regardless," Barlow spoke, "never forget your captures today."

Kate and Keith nodded. "We won't!"

"And Kate," Barlow spoke which made Kate nervous. "Try to relax a bit more, okay? You're a great Ranger and a great person. Don't worry about what people think of you. Damn anyone who complains about your orientation."

Kate blushed and bowed. "Th-thank you, Mr. Barlow."

Barlow laughed. "Kate? Honestly? You can just call me Barlow."

Kate nodded and bowed again.

"Good-bye, everyone, and thanks for having us!" Keith spoke with a smile. "Let's go, I'll bet Rhythmi is already waiting for us back at the School." Kate blushed rather heavily when she thought about Rhythmi and everyone laughed.

"Must be someone very special for you to react like that," Luana spoke up.

"I…I think she's my girlfriend," Kate spoke, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"You think?" Luana asked with a cock-eyed expression before hitting Kate lightly on the end. "If you don't know, then you should ask."

Kate blushed and nodded. "R-right."

Kate turned to walk out the door when an older man stepped in, knocking her over in the process on accident. "Ow," she whimpered and looked up at the man. He wore a white lab coat with a white shirt and brown pants. His hair had gone gray in his old age, and he hobbled on a cane.

"Pr-Professor Hastings!" Barlow spoke up instantly. "What do we owe the pleasure of your coming here?"

"Oh? Nothing in particular," Hastings spoke with a smile. "Just checking on the other Ranger Bases. I was also escorting a young lady back to the Ranger School." He turned, noticing Keith and Kate. "Oh, the two of you are from the school as well."

"Y-yes, sir," Kate spoke as Keith helped her to her feet. "I'm Kate Yamaki, fourteen years old and one-hundred and forty-three centimeters." She gave a bow and Hastings blinked a bit confusedly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Kate, though I didn't really need to know everything about you." Hastings chuckled and Kate blushed.

"My name's Keith."

"Good to meet you, Keith. I just escorted a young lady from your school home…what was her name…Misery? Oh, I don't remember…"

"Didn't Rhythmi say she had to go to the Ranger Union for her internship?" Keith asked and Kate nodded. "I'll bet that's who it was."

"Well, it's getting late, you two should be off," Hastings spoke. "Good day to you two, and I hope one day you will allow me to work with you."

"Of course, Professor," Keith spoke and gave a bow, which Kate gave as well. The two then left, heading towards the bridge to School Island. "It's been one heck of a day, hasn't it?"

"It has," Kate spoke as they walked. Emily, her Pachirisu, was proper up on her shoulder.

"So, when are you going to let that thing go?"

Kate sighed. "I was hoping not to…"

"You know what Barlow said."

"I know…" They stopped at the bridge to School Island and Kate picked Emily up, setting her on the ground. "Emily…this is where we have to part for now, okay?"

"Pachi…" Emily spoke and frowned.

"I'm sorry." Kate wrapped her arms around the creature. "I don't want to let you go either, but we'll see each other again, okay? Graduation is only a month away. When I graduate, I'll go straight to the Ranger Base and become a Ranger. As soon as I do that, I'll come marching right back to Nabiki Beach and meet you there, okay?"

"Pachi…" Emily spoke, still sad.

"I know." Kate hugged Emily tight. "I'll miss you." A tear rolled down her cheek and Keith knelt down next to her.

"You'll see her again," Keith spoke to both of them.

"I know we will." Kate set Emily down, who slowly scampered off, stopping every few inches to look back. Tears rolled down Emily's eyes and Keith wrapped his arms around Kate.

"She'll be fine."

"I-I know…I just…don't want her to go…" Kate spoke before twirling on the spot and wrapping her arms around Keith. "Hold me…" she spoke and Keith blinked confusedly.

"Y-you want me to hold you?"

Kate nodded. "Rhythmi isn't here…and you're my friend, too."

Keith smiled and pulled Kate up against him, holding her tight. The two remained in the embrace for a few minutes before they heard a familiar voice. "Hey!"

Kate's eyes shot wide open and she whirled around. There, at the front of the bridge was Rhythmi, standing with her arms wide open. "Rhythmi!" she shouted and quickly darted forward, wrapping her arms around her and burying her face in Rhythmi's shoulder.

"Hey, now, what's all this about?" Rhythmi asked.

"Kate met a Pachirisu that wanted to be her Partner Pokemon," Keith spoke. "She had to let it go, but made a promise she'd see it again."

"Well, there you go. You made a promise, and a promise is a promise." Rhythmi pulled Kate back. "You'll see that Pachirisu again, no sweat."

Kate nodded and smiled. "I'm so happy to see you again." She wrapped her arms around Rhythmi again and Rhythmi giggled.

"All right, all right." Rhythmi pat Kate's back. "I'm happy to see you again, too. Come on, let's get you back to our dorms and you can tell me all about your day and how you were courageous all day, right?"

Kate nodded and Rhythmi scooped Kate up in her arms. "Keith, thank you," Rhythmi spoke suddenly and Keith blinked confusedly.

"Wh-what for?"

"For being with Kate all day. I'm sure you helped her more then you could possibly imagine."

Keith rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I don't know about that, but, sure." The two turned, returning to the Ranger School at long last. Their one-day internship was now over, and they had only a month of school left. Soon, they would be graduating from school and stepping out into their new jobs as Rangers and Operators. Their school adventure was now reaching its end, but they're true adventure was about to begin.

. . .

"Well, Kate, this is it," Kate spoke as she looked herself in the mirror. She was currently tying her tie on. "The day you graduate and become an official Pokemon Ranger." She looked down at a small sheet of paper on the dresser. "I was assigned to Vientown's Ranger Base, which is great. I can go there, get my Ranger uniform and Styler then keep my promise to Emily."

"Hey, Kate, who are you talking to?" Rhythmi asked as she stepped up behind her. Kate blushed.

"N-nobody."

Rhythmi smiled. "Really?" she bent forward and kissed Kate's neck. "You know, I'm being sent to the Fiore region to train up being an Operator…I won't be here in the Almia region again for a while…"

"I know," Kate sighed with a sound of dread in her voice.

"You'll have to sustain yourself for a while. I'm not going to be around for you to run to."

"I know…" Kate looked down and Rhythmi grabbed Kate's tie, untying it. "H-hey, I just got that tied."

"I know." Rhythmi reached her hand around to the front of Kate's shirt and began unbuttoning it and Kate blushed heavily. "I want to do it with you one more time."

Kate turned back to Rhythmi. "Y-you could have just asked…"

"Where would the fun be in that? There's no foreplay if I just outright ask you." Kate blushed heavily at those words. "Come on, we have until the bell rings before we have to get to the main hall." Rhythmi untied her own tie and tossed it aside. She then began to unbutton her own shirt and Kate blushed as deep a crimson as she could. She and Rhythmi had had intimate relations multiple times since their first time a month ago, but Rhythmi was always too interested in Kate's body for it to go further then Rhythmi pleasuring Kate. Today, she not only had the desire to be pleasured, but also the time as it was still early morning and graduation wasn't until the afternoon.

Rhythmi lied Kate down on her bed and Kate pulled her arms out of her shirt. Rhythmi then tossed her own shirt off before grabbing the middle of her bra and unfastening it, dropping the straps down so her bra slid off her body. She then grabbed Kate's straps and pulled them down off her arms before reaching behind her back and unfastening her bra. Her hands groped Kate's breasts carefully and she moaned ever so slightly. "Are you ready?"

"Wh-what if someone sees us?" Kate asked.

Rhythmi smiled. "Who cares?" she responded and slid her hand down into Kate's pants. Kate moaned, and the two shared a moment of intimacy that they had never shared before.

. . .

"Thank you, Kate," Rhythmi spoke as she and Kate lied on her bed.

Kate smiled. "You're welcome," Kate spoke as she wrapped her arms around her lover.

"I'm betting Carla will never be able to see us the same way again, huh?" Rhythmi giggled and Kate turned a deep crimson. One of the female students had walked into the dorms during their intimate moment. It had caught her so off guard her body froze up and she had found herself watching the scene for several minutes before coming to her senses.

"Y-yeah." Kate gently groped one of Rhythmi's breasts and she smiled.

"So, do you like my body?"

"Y-yes," Kate spoke with a blush.

"I'm sorry this was your only chance to experience this sort of thing."

Kate shook her head. "W-we'll do it again when we meet again. No worries."

Rhythmi giggled. "You're so confident…To be honest, I wanted this because I don't know if we will meet again or not."

Kate looked at Rhythmi with a frown. "Of course we will. You're only going to Fiore to train. They already said you'll be back in Almia within a year."

"But I'll be stationed at the Ranger Union. You're stationed in Vientown. That's halfway across the region."

Kate looked down. "We…we promised to be the best we can be," Kate spoke. "And we can't be the best we can be without each other. So, we'll definitely see each other again."

Rhythmi smiled. "I hope you're right." She kissed Kate gently. "If not, though, well, hey, don't hold up okay? If you meet another girl you like, go for her. She might just be the right one."

Kate blushed as thoughts of Luana returned to her. "W-we'll see." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"We should get dressed and get ready." Rhythmi spoke as she sat up. Kate nodded and the two stood up from their bed and quickly threw on their clothes once more. They stopped and redid their hair to make sure they looked presentable, then headed downstairs. At once they were greeted by a mob of boys.

"Is it true?" one of them shouted and Rhythmi waved her arms.

"What's going on?"

"Carla told us what happened!" another student spoke up. Rhythmi turned and saw Carla not too far away. She blushed quickly.

"I-I was nervous," Carla spoke. "I had just watched you two, and I came running out and was all flustered. Then someone asked why and I just blurted it out…I'm sorry!"

Rhythmi laughed. "Carla, there have been rumors about us since Kate joined the school, so we're used to it." She turned to the students. "Yes, it's true. No, we didn't record it. No, we won't do it for you. Go away."

There was a loud "aww!" that came from the group of students as they walked off.

Rhythmi giggled. "Let's go, the ceremony will be starting soon."

. . .

"And now, the Ranger School Graduation Ceremony shall begin," Mr. Kincaid spoke. The main hallway had been decorated up with flowers and streamers, and the ceremony itself was being held at the stairs. Principal Lamont was standing in front of the stairs with Mr. Kincaid and Mr. Kaplan to his right while Ms. April and Janice stood to his left. "First, a few celebratory words from the Principal."

"Congratulations, everyone!" Principal Lamont spoke up. "You've all done wonderful this year. Rangers, Operators, and Mechanics, three different roads, but I expect the same one thing out of all of you. Don't worry, it won't be anything impossible. 'Please don't forget to smile', that's what I want you to do." He gave a bow.

"Thank you, Principal Lamont," Mr. Kincaid spoke. "Next, let me call upon this graduating class's Valedictorian. Naturally, that would be our best student, Isaac!"

Isaac stepped forward and bowed to the class. "Today, we leave the shelter of this place of learning and nurturing. It is a giant step for us in our pursuits of long-held dreams. To the teachers who inspired us. To Janice, who was mother to us all. To all the Pokemon that loved us. And to all the books of the Library! We will never forget. Thank you so very, very much from all of us!" Principal Lamont smiled and handed Isaac a plaque for making Valedictorian. He then stepped down back into the group.

"Isaac, thank you very much for those most moving words," Mr. Kincaid spoke with a smile. "Next, the conferring of the graduation certificates."

"I would like to call upon one student as the representative of the graduating class," Ms. April spoke. "Kate Yamaki, please step forward."

There was hushed murmuring as Kate slowly stepped forward. Just as she stepped up to Ms. April there was a strange sound, almost like an explosion. Kate quickly turned to the stairs, gripping her Styler tight. "What was that?" Keith spoke as he looked around. "Was that an explosion? An earthquake?"

"That noise definitely came from the basement!" Rhythmi spoke and Mr. Kincaid turned quickly, becoming very nervous.

"Everyone, please keep calm!" Ms. April spoke as she noticed the crowd was beginning to get nervous.

"I-I'll go see what that was!" Mr. Kincaid spoke up and stepped forward, walking towards the basement. Just as he reached the stairs, long blue tentacles reached forward and wrapped around his arms. "Wh-what the heck?" he spoke. Another two tentacles shot forward, wrapping around his feet and lifting him into the air. A moment later, two large creatures that were seemingly made of the strange blue tentacles appeared from the stairs.

"T-Tangrowth!" one of the students shouted.

"H-hey! Put me down!" Mr. Kincaid shouted as he tried to squirm.

The Tangrowth began to move forward. "Everyone run for it!" Principal Lamont shouted and the class quickly took off at a run. It took a moment before Keith noticed that someone wasn't running with them.

"K-Kate?" Keith asked as he whirled around to see not only Kate standing firm in front of the Tangrowth, but also Kellyn. "What are you two doing? Get out of there!"

Kate held her Styler forward. "Capture on!" she shouted and pulled the trigger.

"Capture on!" Kellyn shouted as well, doing the same for his Styler.

"What do you two think you're doing?" Keith shouted, but it was no use, the two were not listening.

"Tangrowth! I won't allow you to hurt anybody here!" Kate shouted as she brought her Styler around, forming a loop around one of the Tangrowth. "I'm going to capture you!" Another couple of loops, and the Tangrowth seemed to grow angry. It brought its hands up and quickly unleashed several very sharp leaves from its body. Kate quickly jumped out of the way, maneuvering her Styler so that the Capture Disc continued spinning, avoiding the multiple leaves as it circled the Tangrowth once more.

This made the Tangrowth angrier and it quickly lashed out with one of its long vines. Kate quickly jumped into the air, doing a flip in mid air before bringing herself back down. A quick twirl and she made three quick loops around the Tangrowth. It was at this point that the Disc itself launched itself up into the air and began to spin downward in an arc.

The Tangrowth roared quickly bringing its claws out to strike at the capture line, but Kate anticipated this and caused the Capture Disc to quickly loop twice around the creature's claw before coming around and creating an empty loop, shrinking the capture line. Kate brought the Disc around once more in a large circle around the Tangrowth before throwing the Disc all the way across the room to the wall.

The Tangrowth roared loudly and raised its hands above its head, energy began to pull into its body as the sunlight around it seemed to grow brighter. "Solarbeam?" Kate asked. "I think not." With a quick twirl, the Capture Disc flew back, twirling up into the air and forming three full loops around the creature. "I have you now!" she shouted as she brought the Capture Disc around for one final loop, just barely making the connection before the creature would have unleashed it's Solarbeam.

Without a hesitation, Kate then brought her Capture Disc around, swirling once around the Tangrowth Kellyn was facing. Her Styler touched upon Kellyn's capture line and at once the line began to glow a bright yellow. She swirled her Disc around, bringing it opposite of the direction Kellyn was. A quick twirl, and her Styler swirled around, forming three loops around the Tangrowth, just as she had with hers. Her Disc then collided with Kellyn's and in a single instance the capture line grew with three times the power, creating a second successful capture.

"Capture complete!" Kellyn and Kate shouted in unison as their Capture Discs returned to their Stylers.

Everyone immediately went silent as they stared at what had just happened. Kellyn turned to Kate in the silence and, much to Kate's surprise, smiled at her. "Thank you," he spoke and gave a bow, which made Kate shirk back.

"I-it was nothing," Kate spoke. "I-I was just trying to help."

"Did you see that?" one of the students shouted.

"Kate and Kellyn just captured both of them!" another student shouted.

"All right, you two, put Mr. Kincaid down!" Kate shouted at the Tangrowth and they did as they were told. Kate smiled, then turned to Kellyn. "All right, let's release them." Kellyn nodded and they flipped the backs of their Stylers open and pushed a button, releasing the Tangrowth in front of them. The Tangrowth quickly rushed off, returning to where they came from.

"That was spectacular!" Ms. April spoke as she stepped up to Kate. "I knew I picked the right person to be the representative of the class."

Kate blushed sheepishly. "Th-thank you, Ms. April."

"Mr. Kincaid!" Principal Lamont shouted and Mr. Kincaid grew extremely nervous. "You're not hurt are you?"

"N-no, sir, but I must admit, even I had no clue what was going on."

Lamont put his hand to his chin. "So not even Mr. Kincaid knows why those Tangrowth rampaged. It's a shame." He smiled. "Well, the good thing is everyone is safe thanks to these two right here. Kellyn and Kate."

"Actually, it was mostly Kate's doing," Kellyn admitted, which shocked Kate even more. "I was struggling with mine, and she helped out after successfully capturing hers. Take a look at our Stylers. My Stylers energy is almost depleted. Another minute and it would have broken for sure, and Kate would have had to start capturing it over from scratch."

"Really now? And how is your Styler, Kate?" Principal Lamont asked.

"F-fine, sir," Kate spoke as she held it up.

"Nearly full energy. Looks like the only damage you took was once from its Razor Leaf at the beginning."

Kate nodded. "Th-that's true, sir."

"Absolutely impressive. I've never seen anyone able to capture quite as well as you. I think you have what it takes to become a Top Ranger one day." Principal Lamont then turned to Kellyn. "As for you, I recommend trying harder. Remember, you can't always make the loops, so remember to pull back at times."

Kellyn nodded. "I understand, Principal Lamont."

"Well, with that over with, what says everyone if we get back to the celebration?"

Ms. April smiled. "Kate, would you like to come up and be the representative?"

"Y-yes, Ms. April," Kate spoke and stepped up. Ms. April handed Kate the graduation certificates and as each person was called, she handed each of the certificates out. Finally, at the end, she was given hers and returned back to her spot in the crowd.

"Kate and Kellyn, I would like to say thank you to both of you," Principal Lamont spoke. "You took charge and captured those Tangrowth quite calmly. You gave a perfect example of taking charge during a crisis. And now, at last, the time has come for every one of you to set sail into the vast horizon that is your future. In closing, I will say this once again. 'Please don't forget to smile'. Congratulations, graduates!" With that everyone cheered.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this so far. Please don't forget to hit the review button! I'd love to know your thoughts on the story ^^<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Onee-sama!" a voice shouted and Kate groaned as she stirred. "Onee-sama! Wake up, Onee-sama! Hey, this isn't a letter you know!" The voice growled. "WAKE UP!"

Kate practically fell out of bed at that last scream. She turned, noticing her little sister was standing at the foot of her bed. This brought back memories how after her graduation she had gone to her new home in Chicole Village, which meant she was now in her own bedroom. Mary was a young girl, no older than eight. She had long sandy-brown hair that was pulled up into pigtails like Kate's hair was. A simple white shirt and blue skirt was her entire outfit.

"Mary!" Kate shouted, then looked down at herself. She quickly pulled her blanket up to cover herself as she had only worn her underwear to bed, a habit she had developed at the Ranger School due to Almia's considerably warmer climate. "What are you doing in my room?"

"Papa was worried. You hadn't woken up yet, and he knew you needed to get to the Ranger Base soon."

"Oh my gosh!" Kate shouted. "I totally forgot!" She threw the covers off her bed and jumped to her feet, quickly pulling on a simple outfit, consisting of a purple mini-skirt and a purple halter-top. She quickly ran downstairs and Mary followed behind. "Mama, Papa, I'm awake!"

"Hey, there she is!" Kate's father spoke as she ran down the stairs. Kate's father was a tall man, at least six foot or more. His brown hair was short but spiked, and he wore a dark gray shirt with a pair of green overalls over them. Her father had become a farmer when they moved, which explained his new look. Her mother hasn't changed much, though, wearing her usual green dress and white apron. She had her sandy-brown hair pulled up into pigtails much like any other girl in her family.

"Good morning, Kate!" Kate's mother spoke with a smile.

"Sorry I worried you two." Kate gave a bow. "I don't usually sleep in that late."

"Haha, it's fine, Kate. After a year in that school, you deserved a bit of a longer rest then normal."

Kate rubbed the back of her neck. "Yeah…Rhythmi always kept me up most of the night."

"Is that your girlfriend?" Kate's mother asked to which Kate quickly jumped, waving her hands.

"W-we…umm…were intimate…" Kate spoke sheepishly. "B-but we weren't a couple…I don't think…" She looked away.

"Oh? I didn't know you did stuff like that."

"W-well, Rhythmi came on pretty strongly…" Kate looked away, blushing hard. "Considering how she always pushed me against a wall and started fondling me…"

"What was that, dear?" Kate's mother asked, since the last part of Kate's statement had been at a near whisper.

"N-nothing!" Kate quickly shouted. "Wh-what's for breakfast, Mama?"

"I made your favorite, blueberry waffles!"

Kate's eyes lit up. "Yay!" she quickly sat at the table and Kate's mother brought over a plate of waffles. Kate's father and sister then sat down at the table as well.

"It's kind of sad…" Kate's mother spoke, "you just got out of school, and you're home for not even a day, and you're already leaving…"

"I know, but I have to work," Kate spoke. "This is what I always dreamed of, and they gave me my assignment the day I graduated."

"I know…I still wish you could stay at home for at least a few days…"

"No sweat, Mom. Once I start work, I'll make sure to come back every few days to visit."

Kate's mother nodded. "I know…"

"So, about this Rhythmi girl, will we get to meet her?" Kate's father asked.

"She got assigned to the Fiore region…" Kate spoke before sighing.

"So you don't know when you'll see her again?"

Kate nodded before taking a big bite of her waffles. "As much as I want to see her again, I don't know when the next time I will see her will be."

"Well, when you see her next, bring her back here, we'd like to meet her. After all, she is the girl who took our daughter's virginity."

Kate chocked and blushed heavily. "P-Papa!" she shouted and Kate's father laughed. She folded her arms over her chest. "Saying such things with eight year old ears present…" Kate sighed and stood to her feet after she was done. "All right, I'm off." She hugged her family. "Good-bye, I'll see you all!" With those words, she threw on her shoes and was out the door.

. . .

"All right, so, one of you is here," Barlow spoke as he looked Kellyn over. "Kate should be along shortly, no doubt." Barlow pulled an official Ranger Styler out of his pouch and handed it to Kellyn. "Here you go, here's your official Ranger Styler. You'll find your uniform in your trunk at the foot of your bed, which is through this door." He waved to the door behind him.

"Thank you, Barlow," Kellyn spoke, "it will be a pleasure working with you."

"And with you as well. I heard you did really well in your class."

"I did, but Kate did way better than me. I wasn't sure about her at first, but now? I think I'm okay with her."

"You had an issue with her at first?"

Kellyn shrugged. "She was so shy, and she seemed so scared. I kind of figured she wouldn't make it. I was surprised she made class representative."

Barlow nodded. "Yeah, Kate's a shy person all right. When we met she practically shut down, wouldn't talk or anything. Her friend Keith had to do the talking for her."

Kellyn nodded. "That's what I mean, she doesn't seem to talk at all. Unless she's with Rhythmi and Keith. I'm a little worried how she'll act since they're both in Fiore."

"We'll have to see." With those words, the doors to the Ranger Base opened and Kate stepped through. "Kate! Welcome!"

"Barlow!" Kate spoke with a smile and a bow. "It's nice to see you, again."

"You're talking more today than last time we met, that's good. You must be comfortable around us."

Kate nodded. "Yeah, a bit."

"Well, as I was just getting done telling Kellyn here, the beds are behind this door behind me. Here's your official Ranger Styler, and your uniform is in your trunk at the foot of your bed." Barlow produced another Styler from his pouch, then noticed how Kate was wide-eyed. "Something wrong?"

"K-Kellyn! You got stationed here, too?" Kate asked.

Kellyn nodded. "Yeah, they thought I would be best suited here."

Kate quickly gave him a bow. "I-it'll be nice to work with you. W-we never really got a chance to meet each other in the school."

Kellyn nodded. "I'm interested in learning more about you as well, Kate, though I do know some about you. So, don't worry, I won't be hitting on you or anything. You're not really my type anyway, even if you were straight."

Kate blinked. "I-is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Kellyn thought for a moment. "Come to think of it…I'm not really sure." He shrugged. "Sorry, I tend to just speak the first thing to my mind."

"I-I see." Kate then turned, noticing Barlow was still holding out her Styler. "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, Barlow!" she gave a bow and quickly took her Styler.

"It's fine, Kate," Barlow said with a smile. "Well, since your both here, we'll give proper introductions." He stood firm and did his Ranger pose. "You know me, Barlow. I'm the tough guy here. I'm also the Ranger Leader, so most of your orders will come straight from me. Of course, you know Crawford. He was the tallest guy in Vientown until you showed up Kellyn. His hair is that explosion of an afro." Barlow waved to Crawford, who pulled off his Ranger pose. "If you want funny, he's the guy to go to, though don't be offended if he says a joke at the worst times."

"Ha, yeah, I have a bad habit of that," Crawford rubbed the back of his neck.

"Next we have Luana. She's our newest member besides you two. She's a bit scatterbrained. Why, just this morning she incinerated toast!" Luana rubbed the back of her neck at that remark. "On the other hand, she has brilliantly white teeth." Luana quickly pulled off her Ranger pose like Barlow and Crawford had before her. "And of course, our mechanic, Elaine. She'd choose tinkering with machines over romance."

"Darn right I would!" Elaine shouted.

"Problem is, she loves taking things apart more then she enjoys assembling them." Barlow turned Kate and Kellyn to the counter behind them. "And, of course, this is our always-smiling Operator, Hikari."

The Operator bowed. "Welcome to the Ranger Base," she spoke.

"And that, kids, is our entire team." Barlow turned back to Kate and Kellyn. "Now, here's the annoying part. Since your one-day internship, Kate, Vientown has been getting weird. I mean really weird. It's so bad the town can no longer live up to the billing 'For relaxation, this is your town.' Whether Vientown returns to being a relaxing place or not is up to us. It's our job as Rangers to put things right. I expected big things from all of you. Now, then, go change so I can give you both your first missions."

"Yes, sir," Kate and Kellyn spoke in unison, then headed off to change into their uniforms. After a moment, the two came out and Barlow looked the two over with a smile.

"You both wear the Ranger uniform well. It looks like it all fits you. With that I can officially say you are both now Pokemon Rangers. Welcome to the team. Show me your Ranger poses!"

Kate smiled and quickly twirled before holding her Styler up and letting the Capture Wand activate. "Very nice, I love it." Kellyn jumped up, doing a flip in mid-air before landing and throwing his Styler up, releasing the Capture Wand. "Awesome, I love them both!" Barlow smiled. "All right, here's your first missions. You will accompany Crawford as he makes his way through Vientown and Chicole Village delivering the Vien Tribune. It's a newspaper our Ranger Base runs itself, actually."

"That's awesome!" Kate spoke and smiled.

"Now, usually Crawford does this alone, but it will give you all a chance to meet with some of the citizens around here. So, go ahead, we'll be waiting for you guys back here."

"All right, let's go!" Crawford spoke up.

"Wait!" Kate spoke up quickly. "Umm…Barlow, sir…I guess…Leader now, right?" Barlow nodded. "Leader…I promised that Pachirisu I'd go meet her as soon as I become a Pokemon Ranger. Would it be possible to go to Nabiki Beach and find it during this mission?"

"I don't see why not, you'll need a Partner Pokemon anyway. Crawford will show you how to register that Pachirisu as your Partner once you find it." Barlow then turned to Kellyn. "You should get one as well." Kellyn nodded in response. After those words, they headed out.

. . .

"Here we are, Nabiki Beach," Crawford spoke. "Mr. Woodward should be around here since he wasn't home." The group of three stepped down the stairs and when they did, Kate's eyes caught hold of a small Pokemon not too far away. She smiled when she saw it and rushed forward.

"Emily!" Kate shouted, wrapping her arms around the small Pachirisu that was sitting on the beach.

"Is this your Pachirisu?" an old man asked as he stepped up to Kate.

"N-not exactly," Kate spoke and bowed. "I met this Pachirisu here a month ago, and I promised it I'd come back for it once I was a Ranger."

"Ahh, yes, you see, this Pachirisu has been returning to this beach every day for the last month. I was wondering if it was looking for someone. Guess I was right."

"Mr. Woodward," Crawford spoke as he stepped up to the old man. "This is Kate. She just become a Pokemon Ranger today. Same with this young boy. His name is Kellyn." Crawford motioned to Kellyn.

"Ah, always good to see new kids becoming proud Pokemon Rangers."

"So, Kate, this is the same Pachirisu?" Crawford asked.

"Yeap," Kate spoke with a smile. The Pachirisu quickly climbed up Kate's shoulder and she giggled. "See?"

"Ahh, yeap, definitely the same one." Crawford smiled. "Well, good to see you found your friend. Let's get it all registered then. Just activate the Partner mode and draw a loop around the Pachirisu." Kate did as she was told and when she did her Styler lit up. "There you go, now you can use your Pachirisu as your Partner and use its Poke-Assists."

"Poke-Assists?" Kate asked.

"Ahh, yeah, you don't know about those, do you? Poke-Assists allow you to use a Pokemon's power to boost your Styler. For example, your Pachirisu would allow you to electrically charge your Capture Disc and release a bolt of electricity into any Pokemon you face. Of course, it only works on Pokemon that can be hurt by electricity, so don't expect it to help against a Geodude or something." Crawford rubbed the back of his neck.

Kate nodded. "I understand." Kate then turned to Kellyn. "So what is your Partner going to be?"

Kellyn shrugged. "I'll know when I find it." He smiled. "I'm not worried until then."

"Here's your paper, Mr. Woodward," Crawford spoke as he handed the old man his paper. "And with that, we're done here, so let's move on."

. . .

"No way!" Kate shouted as they stopped in front of a small house. "My parents are subscribed to the Vien Tribune as well?"

"This is your house?" Crawford asked and Kate nodded. "Then, yes, your parents bought a subscription just the other day. This is actually their first paper." He pulled the paper out of his pack. "Would you like to deliver it?"

"Can I?" Kate asked with wide eyes and Crawford nodded. "Thank you!" She snatched the paper out of Crawford's hands and hugged him. She then quickly pulled away, realizing what she had just done. Crawford laughed, simply waving the matter aside. Kate then turned and slid the door open. "Mama, Papa!" she called out, to which Kate's father quickly dashed into the living room.

"Kate! We didn't expect you back so quickly!" Kate's father spoke up at once. "You look great!" he spoke with a smile as he scrutinized the outfit Kate was now wearing.

"Thank you, Papa," Kate spoke with a light blush. "I'm an official Pokemon Ranger now." She turned. "This is Crawford. He's one of the Rangers at the base and is currently the Ranger I am assigned to since it's my first day."

"Hello," Crawford spoke with a salute. "I believe we met once before when you bought your subscription."

"Yes, yes, we did," Kate's father spoke with a nod.

"And this is Kellyn, he graduated in my class," Kate spoke, motioning to Kellyn.

"Hello, sir," Kellyn spoke very firmly.

"Kellyn, eh?" Kate's father stepped up to him. "The same Kellyn you spoke of in your letters?" he asked as he turned to Kate.

"Eh, heh… Yeah, he's the one," Kate rubbed the back of her neck. "He's a nice guy, actually."

"Is he now?" Kate's father turned back to Kellyn. Kellyn responded with a rather serious look. "He's definitely just as you described. Serious and composed." He smacked Kellyn on the back so hard he nearly fell over. "Learn to light up a bit, son!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, sir, that's just how I am around new people," Kellyn responded as he regained his composure.

"I see, well, as long as you're treating my daughter right, then everything's fine."

"Of course, sir. I know she's not into guys, and I have no problem with that. I have no plans to try anything with her."

"Make certain you don't." Kate's father turned and stepped over to Kate with a smile. "Oh, so you're delivering the Vien Tribune today, are you? I should have guessed since I saw Crawford."

"Ah, yes!" Kate shouted, remembering her duties now. "Here you go, Papa." She quickly thrust the paper in her father's face and he chuckled.

"Kate, this isn't a life-threatening mission. Just keep your cool and you'll be fine."

"R-right, sorry." Kate rubbed the back of her neck nervously and her father took the paper.

"Oh, and who's this young one?" Kate's father asked as he now noticed the Pachirisu on Kate's shoulder.

"Ah! This is Emily, my Pachirisu! She's my Partner Pokemon!" Kate spoke enthusiastically.

"Is that so? Well, that's wonderful to hear." Kate's father stepped forward and hugged Kate. "I'm very proud of you."

Kate smiled and embraced her father. "Thank you, Papa."

The two stayed in the embrace for a moment before Kate's father cleared his throat and pulled away from the hug. "Well, you have more to do, I'm certain. We'll see each other again, no doubt."

Kate nodded. "Of course." She then turned and walked back to Crawford and Kellyn. "Where to next?"

"Back to the base," Crawford spoke. "They were the last paper we had to deliver." He turned back to Kate's father. "Farewell, sir, I'll be seeing you again tomorrow. It's actually my duty to deliver the Vien Tribune, after all."

"Farewell for now, Crawford," Kate's father spoke before turning to Kellyn. "Farewell, Kellyn."

"Farewell, Mr. Yamaki," Kellyn spoke and the three left.

. . .

"What?" Barlow shouted.

"I-it's true!" a young boy, no older then fifteen spoke as he stood in front of Barlow, Luana, and Elaine. "They've gone crazy! No one can stop them!"

"This is bad." Barlow quickly pulled out his Styler. "Voicemail! Voicemail!" he shouted into the Styler. "Calling Rangers Kate, Kellyn, and Crawford! Come in!"

"We hear you, Leader!" Crawford spoke over the Styler. "What's up?"

"An emergency, that's what! We just got a report that the Pokemon in Marine Cave are going crazy! They're attacking anyone who comes near the cave!"

"What? That's horrible! Do you want us to check it out?"

"Yes, take Kate and Kellyn and check it out right away!"

"Understood! Ranger Crawford out!" The sound from the Styler went dead, signaling Crawford had hung up.

"Can they do it? Can they calm the Pokemon down?" the boy spoke and Barlow smirked and gave a nod.

"No problem. Kate's one of the best Rangers I've ever seen and that Kellyn kid isn't too shabby either from what I hear. Crawford is great as well, so it won't be an issue."

. . .

"This is it, Marine Cave," Crawford spoke as they walked across Nabiki Beach, stopping at a cavern nearby.

"How did we not see this place when Keith and I were here?" Kate asked curiously.

"Simple, the tide as high. The tide is low now, which means you can walk across to the cave now."

"Interesting."

"Look," Kellyn spoke as he pointed forward. Almost instantly, three small pink slug-like creatures appeared from inside the cave. These were Shellos. Their movements were strange, and their eyes seemed glazed, as if they weren't moving of their own will. "What could cause something like this?"

"I don't know, but let's see if we can help them." The three of them quickly whipped out their Stylers, but before they could go any further, the Shellos quickly unleashed streams of bubbles from their mouths which knocked the Stylers out of their hands. "This is not good."

Kellyn bit his lip, then turned, noticing a small Munchlax making its way across the beach. "Distract them!" Kellyn shouted before dashing off for his Styler.

"Do what?" Kate shouted before getting struck by a stream of bubbles from the Shellos.

Kellyn quickly retrieved his Styler from the beach and pointed it at the Munchlax. "Capture on!" he shouted and unleashed the Capture Disc. He formed several loops around the Munchlax before it even had time to react. "Capture complete! Munchlax, Tackle those Shellos!"

"Munch!" Munchlax shouted before rushing forward towards the Shellos blocking the cavern. The Shellos turned their attention to the creature, but surprisingly, even though it was a big creature, it was fast, and before they could react, the Munchlax was tackling them hard. "Munchlax munch!"

"Good work, Munchlax!" Kellyn spoke as he whipped his Styler out once more. "Capture on!" he shouted and shot the Capture Disc forward. He made several loops around each of the Shellos before they could finish recovering from the daze of the tackle. "Capture complete," he spoke with a smile. "How about that for-"

Before Kellyn could finish his statement, the Shellos quickly shot upright and took off at incredible speeds. "What the heck?" Kellyn looked down at his Styler. "Unable to maintain link? What does that mean?"

"After a capture, the Pokemon is linked to your Styler. While linked, they stick with you and do what you need," Crawford explained. "These Shellos…something kept them from linking with your Styler."

"What the heck kind of thing could have done that?"

"I don't know," Kate spoke up and everyone turned to her. "But, I had that same thing happen to me at school. During the Trial of Courage everyone gave me, I fought four Gastlys, but after capturing them, the same error came up on my Styler and they ran off, just like the Shellos."

"Do you think there could be a connection?" Kellyn asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

"I don't know. The only one down there was Mr. Kincaid."

"Strange." Kellyn looked up at the Marine Cave. "Let's go inside and find out what's going on." Crawford and Kate nodded and the three quickly stepped inside the cave. "Do you hear that?" Kellyn asked almost the moment they stepped inside the cave.

"That strange noise?" Kate asked and Kellyn nodded. "Sounds kind of like…aliens."

"Aliens? What the…" Kellyn look strangely at Kate.

"How else do explain that noise? It's not natural, but it's not mechanical! It's like…some kind of weird alien signal or something!"

"Regardless of what it sounds like," Crawford jumped in at that moment, "we need to find the source of it."

"It's coming from over there." Kellyn pointed off to a cavern branch to the northeast. The three of them carefully made their way forward through the cavern. The farther in they got, the louder the noise became. "It's definitely coming from around here. It sounds like- What the heck is that?"

There, in the middle of the cavern was a strange device. It had a rocket-like shape to it and in the center of the machine was a silver colored ring that was turning ever quickly. The rest of the machine was red in color, and the strange noise was being emitted from it. They then saw four Pokemon circling the machine madly, as if they had tried to attack the machine but had become confused by it. Their faces showed great pain.

"It's that thing! That thing is the cause of it all!"

"Then let's take it out," Crawford spoke. He rushed forward and kicked the top of the machine, but it didn't budge at all. In fact, that only damage he had done was to his foot. "Ow ow ow ow ow!" he shouted as he grabbed his foot and began to jump around.

"Idiot…" Kellyn spoke before stepping up to the machine. He examined it over carefully, noticing the Pokemon that were circling it seemed to confused to consider him a threat. He gripped the bottom of it and when he pulled to lift it, it didn't budge in the slightest. "Heavier then anything I've ever seen," he spoke and touched the top of it. "It's warm." He turned to Kate. "Kate, find me a large source of water! There's got to be a Wartortle or a Gastrodon or something around here! It's Water Gun should be powerful enough to damage this thing."

"But didn't the Pokemon in the cave refuse our Stylers?" Kate asked. "I can't capture anything in here!"

"Yes you can! This cave extends further to the west. If you can find a spot where the sound from this machine is quiet, you might have a higher chance of capturing a Pokemon! If it is the sound that causes the problems, then if you get far enough away from the sound, the Pokemon won't be affected by it."

Kate nodded slowly. "A-all right, I'll do my best." Kate whirled around and rushed off down the cave. As she did, she heard the sound of the machine becoming less and less until it had almost vanished entirely. It was there, in a small cavern inside of Marine Cave that she found a large pink slug-like creature. This was bigger then the Shellos, and she immediately recognized it as a Gastrodon.

"Capture on!" Kate shouted and fired the Capture Disc forward. She quickly formed a single loop around the creature before attracting its attention. It turned to her and Kate stepped back. It roared loudly and began to breathe in deeply. When it exhaled, it unleashed a massive blast of water straight towards Kate.

Quickly, Kate jumped aside, and as she did, she twirled around, causing the Capture Disc to make two quick loops around the creature. It roared once more and turned its head towards Kate before jumping high up into the air and landing against the ceiling. "Oh shoot!" Kate shouted and stepped back as she watched the Gastrodon slowly move across the ceiling. "Okay, focus, I can do this," she spoke and looked up, making direct eye contact with the creature.

In an instant, Kate felt it once more. It was just like in the battle with the Tangrowth, she felt as if she had connected directly with the Gastrodon. She could sense its next move, and she brought her Styler aside. The massive creature stopped high above Kate and let itself loose of the ceiling. Just as it did, Kate performed a double backflip, landing away from the spot the creature then crashed down on.

With her eyes closed, Kate brought her Styler up and quickly performed three more loops around the creature, making it roar for a moment more before the Capture Disc returned to her Styler. "Capture complete," she spoke before opening her eyes. The Gastrodon had now gone from violent and ferocious to smiling and loving. Kate felt her energy drain right away and she fell to her knees. The Gastrodon quickly moved over to Kate and picked her up by the back of her jacket, dropping her on its back. "Thanks Gastrodon. Now, we have a machine to destroy!"

. . .

"Where is she?" Kellyn asked as he stared at the Pokemon that were still circling the strange machine. "She should have been back by now."

"Don't worry, Kellyn, she'll be here," Crawford spoke with a smile. "After all, she's a great Ranger."

"I know, but Gastrodon are not easy to capture."

"Oh, don't worry, she's fine!"

"Hey!" Kate shouted as the Gastrodon made its way across the cave towards the boys.

"And there she is now, riding on its back, no less!"

Kellyn chuckled and shrugged. "You did say she was a great Ranger."

The Gastrodon stopped next to the boys and Kate hopped off. "All right, now what?" she asked.

"Just like I said, use its Water Gun on this machine. It should fry its circuits and short it out."

Kate nodded. "Gastrodon, Water Gun full blast!" Kate shouted and Gastrodon breathed in. It once again unleashed a large stream of water straight forward which struck the red machine hard. At once the machine began to crackle and fizz and electric sparks began to fly off of it. A moment later, and the top of the machine exploded, sending bits of debris everywhere, one cutting directly into Kate's leg, knocking her down with a scream.

"Kate!" Kellyn and Crawford shouted as they rushed to her side.

"I-I'm okay," Kate spoke with a smile. She went to stand, but pain shot through her leg, and found herself only collapsing onto her back. Her leg was stiff and Crawford bit his lip.

"Kellyn, grab Kate and take her back to the Ranger base quickly," Crawford spoke as he whipped out his Styler.

"What about you?" Kellyn asked.

"I've got to call someone. Elaine will want to have a look at this machine, and there's no way I'll be able to lift it. I doubt even all three of us could lift it."

"Then who…wait…you don't mean…?"

Crawford nodded. "Yeap."

Kellyn nodded. "I understand." Crawford and Kellyn quickly picked Kate up and threw her onto Kellyn's back. "Take care, I'll be back."

Crawford chuckled. "Don't care of Kate first. I'll only be a few minutes behind you." Kellyn nodded again and quickly rushed forward, out of Marine Cave. Crawford opened his Styler. "Voicemail! Voicemail! Ranger Crawford to Ranger Barlow! Come in!"

"Ranger Barlow here, go ahead, Crawford!"

. . .

"Let me through!" Luana shouted as she pushed passed Elaine and Kellyn to get to Kate, who had been carefully lied upon one of the beds in the dorms. "Oh damn…" Luana spoke as she bit her lip.

"Interesting choice of words," Kellyn spoke.

"She has a huge piece of metal sticking out of her leg! How do you expect me to react?" Luana shouted.

"Well, not with the word 'damn'. Kind of vulgar if you ask me."

"I'll swear if I damn well please!" Luana shouted and growled before turning back to Kate. "Okay, hold still, Kate."

"Considering I can't feel that leg right now? I don't think that'll be a problem," Kate spoke in a semi-joking tone, trying to lighten the mood. She felt pain shoot through her leg as Luana carefully pulled the piece of metal from her leg and she quickly bit down on her pillow to try to keep herself from screaming. Luana quickly placed a piece of gauze upon her leg and applied pressure to the cut. "That was a deep wound. What happened?"

Kate explained what happened only a few minutes before and Luana put her hand to her chin. "A machine that was making the Pokemon confused and un-capturable?" Kate nodded. "Strange."

"We're back!" Crawford shouted as he entered the Ranger base and Luana quickly stepped to the side so she could see out the dorm door.

"Welcome ba- WHAT IS THAT?" Behind Crawford was a rather large woman. She was at least a good six and a half feet tall and couldn't have weighed any less than three hundred pounds. While her body was big, her arms were muscular, and she had the strange machine thrown over her shoulder.

"Where do you want this?" the woman asked, her voice sounding about as deep as one would imagine a big woman like her having.

"Right over there is fine, Bertha," Barlow spoke a little nervously. The big woman stomped over to one of the corners and threw the machine down, causing the entire base to shake for a single moment.

"Is that the machine Kate was talking about?" Luana shouted as she stared at the strange machine that had now been dropped nearby.

"Yes, yes it is," Crawford spoke with a smile.

"Ooo!" Elaine shouted. "Let me take it apart! Can I take it apart?" she asked as she looked at Barlow. "Please please please please please?"

"No," Barlow spoke very firmly and Elaine collapsed to the ground in a second's time.

"Wh-why not?" Elaine asked as she regained her composure just as quickly as she had lost it.

"Because, Professor Hastings will want to see this before we go disassembling it." Barlow flipped open his Styler. "Ranger Barlow to Ranger Union, this is an emergency message to Professor Hastings, Priority one!"

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this so far. Please don't forget to hit the review button! I'd love to know your thoughts on the story ^^<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Rangers! Emergency!" Barlow shouted as he burst into the dorms where Kate and Kellyn were still sleeping.

"I'm awake!" Kate shouted as she quickly sat up. The sudden movement shot pain through her leg, reminding her of the wound she had gotten just the day before.

"What's up?" Kellyn asked as he sat up in bed, looking to Barlow.

"Vien Forest is on fire!" Barlow spoke up.

"What?" Kate and Kellyn shouted and quickly threw the covers off their beds. Kellyn stood to his feet quickly, then looked over, seeing Kate collapse to the ground.

"Damn leg…" Kate swore and pulled herself up, holding her weight on her uninjured leg.

"Kate, you shouldn't move too much. That wound is still pretty bad." Barlow then noticed a small amount of blood making its way out of the bandage and down her leg. "My point exactly, moving too much will just make it worse."

"But I have to help!" Kate spoke up.

Barlow shook his head. "You're injured, lie back down."

"But-"

"That's an order!" Barlow bellowed and Kate shirked back. She had never seen him shout so aggressively before.

"Y-yes, sir," Kate spoke before sitting back down on her bed.

"Luana will be in to change your bandage in a few minutes. Kellyn, Crawford, and I will take care of the fire."

"Will the three of us be enough to battle an entire forest fire?" Kellyn asked.

Barlow shrugged. "It's the best we can do right now."

"What about calling the Rangers in the Ranger Union?" Kate asked.

Barlow shook his head. "This is our mission. The Top Rangers at the Union have much more important matters to focus on."

"'Much more important matters'? A forest fire isn't important?"

"It is, but it's not something we need Top Rangers for."

"Then I should be out there helping as well! It's going to take more than just the three of you to-"

"Your safety comes first," Barlow spoke up, almost angrily, which made Kate shirk back again. "Understand that if any of my Rangers gets injured it's on my head. You're injured as it is. If I were to allow you to go on a mission in your state, I could be terminated, along with any Rangers who were in on it, including you!"

Kate looked down, not speaking a word. Barlow took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Besides, your father would never forgive me if I let you go out like that. You stay here, Luana will look after you."

Kate nodded quietly before lying back down. Just as she did, Luana rushed in with a first-aid kit and rushed to Kate's side. "Kate," Luana spoke, sounding upset. "I told you yesterday, you can't get up. Look at your leg." She quickly removed the old bandage before grabbing a gauze from her kit and carefully began to clean Kate's wound which had opened and was now bleeding badly. "It only takes a minute for you to bleed out enough to die of blood loss. I recommend doing what I say so that doesn't happen." Kate nodded quietly.

"All right, then," Barlow spoke and turned to Kellyn. "Get dressed quick. No telling how far that fire will spread if we don't handle it immediately."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Kellyn spoke up and quickly snatched his Ranger uniform up and changed into it. Barlow and him then rushed out, meeting with Crawford who was waiting impatiently at the door to the base.

"Be careful!" Kate shouted out before lying her head back. "Yeah…I shouldn't have gotten up…"

"Light-headed?" Luana asked and Kate nodded. "Considering how much blood you've lost in the last twenty-four hours, I'm not surprised."

"Ow! Hey, that hurts!" Kate shouted as Luana placed a gauze with anti-biotic onto the wound.

"You want this to get infected?"

"N-no."

"Then you deal with the pain."

Kate nodded and remained silent as Luana continued to clean her wound. She spoke up after a few moments. "Do you think they'll be all right?"

"Are you kidding? Barlow went with them, no way they'll get hurt."

Kate looked down. "Are you sure?"

Luana looked at Kate in confusion. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I just…feel like I should be there with them, that's all."

"You're hurt, Kate. There's no way you could be there with them. I mean, look at how bad your leg got just from trying to stand up. No way you'd be able to walk."

"But what if they get injured? What if there are more of those…machines…and they have no way to destroy them? What if they desperately need me?"

"Now that's enough," Luana spoke sternly. "Barlow and Carwford are fine Rangers, they won't get hurt in such a small thing as a forest fire. And that Kellyn kid is definitely stronger then he looks, so no way he'll get hurt."

"I…I don't know," Kate spoke as she looked away.

"You need something to take your mind off of it," Luana spoke as she put her finger to her chin and began to think for a moment. "I know just the thing."

"You do?" Kate asked. No sooner had the words left her mouth then did Luana press her lips against Kate's. Kate's eyes went wide at this sudden movement and her face turned a deep shade of crimson.

"I'll do it again if you stop worrying," Luana spoke as she slowly pulled away from Kate, looking her in the eyes.

"Y-you like girls?"

"Not exactly." Luana moved herself close to Kate's ear. "But I'll make an exception for you." She then moved down and gently bit Kate on the neck.

. . .

"Mimi!" Crawford shouted as he rushed forward. He quickly slid as he whirled himself around, bringing his hands up just in time to grab the trunk of a tree that was about to collapse on a little girl. The girl was no older than ten, though likely younger, and clutched in her arms was a small pink creature that was almost egg shaped. It had a small pouch on the front of its body that held a small oval stone in it.

"Mr. Crawford!" the girl spoke as she let go of the small creature and pulled herself up into a standing position. "Thank you for saving Mimi," she spoke with a smile.

"Hey, no sweat, Mimi." Crawford tossed the tree aside. "That could have been a rather crushing experience." He chuckled at his own joke and Mimi just looked at him oddly. "Not the time for joking, right. Anyway, why are you here? You should be at home."

"Mimi's Happiny suddenly stopped listening to Mimi, Mr. Crawford," Mimi explained. "Mimi did all she could to keep this one. The others all ran away."

"Stopped listening to you, huh?" Crawford asked and looked around. "Are there more of those machines here?"

"Crawford, what's going on?" Barlow asked as he stepped up to Crawford.

"Mimi's Happiny ran off on her, Leader."

"That's not good. Were they spooked by the fire?"

"I don't know, sir."

Barlow knelt down to Mimi's level. "Mimi, I need you to go home now, okay?"

Mimi's eyes welled up. "But…but Mimi's Happiny." Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"We'll find your Happiny, don't worry. You've got to go home, though."

"No! Mimi isn't going home! Mimi is staying right here until Mimi finds Mimi's Happiny!"

"Mimi, I'm sorry, but we really need you to go home. We'll find your Happiny and bring them home to you, okay? But if you stay out here you'll get hurt."

"Mimi doesn't want to get hurt."

"Good, then go home."

"Mimi's not going home until Mimi finds Mimi's Happiny!"

Barlow sighed and stood to his feet. "Crawford…"

Crawford shrugged. "I'm no good with children, Leader."

"Kellyn?" Barlow asked as he turned to Kellyn.

"Never been around children before," Kellyn spoke with a shrug. "Sorry, can't help you."

Barlow sighed. "All right. Crawford, Kellyn, you two spread out and find those Happiny. I'll stay here with Mimi and make sure she doesn't get hurt." Crawford and Kellyn nodded and quickly took off in different directions. Barlow knelt back down to Mimi and smiled. "All right, now, that's enough," he spoke very sweetly and pulled Mimi close to him. "Calm down, we'll find them, I promise."

. . .

"Happiny, Happiny," Kellyn spoke as he looked around. "If I were a Happiny, where would I be?"

"Budew!" voice shouted suddenly and Kellyn whirled around. Just as he did a massive tree came crashing down in front of him, the side of it was caught aflame. In an instant, four small Budew jumped out from their hiding spots and rushed towards Kellyn.

"That tree scared them! I have to calm them down!" Kellyn pulled out his Styler. "Capture on!" he shouted and unleashed the Capture Disc. He quickly formed a large loop around all four of the Budew, wrangling them together. He made another quick loop around them and the Budew moved closer together. A final loop and his Disc returned to his Styler. "Capture complete. I'd say that was an amazing capture, but it was only Budew." Kellyn noted that the Budew were now sufficiently calmed down and so he released them.

"Now, them, how am I going to tackle this obstacle?" Kellyn asked as he looked at the fallen tree. "Well, I have to put the fire out before it spreads." He turned. "Perfect!" He rushed forward, stopping in front of a small turtle-like creature that was half his height. It had a bushy tail and long ears that somewhat resembled chibi angel wings. Its skin was blue and its shell was brown and it stood on its hind legs to walk.

"Capture on!" Kellyn shouted with a smirk. "Let's do this, Wartortle." He quickly looped around the turtle a few times before it could react and he smiled as he completed his capture. "Wartortle! Water Gun on that tree!" Wartortle turned to the fallen tree and quickly unleashed a blast of water on it, extinguishing the flames. "Good job, Wartortle."

"Happiny!" a voice spoke up and Kellyn quickly hopped over the fallen tree. There, on the other side, in a small clearing, he found one of Mimi's Happinys.

. . .

"This is a hot situation," Crawford spoke as he found himself surrounded by flames. He had stepped deeper into the forest and gotten himself into a corner, but when he had tried to turn back, a burning tree had fallen in his way. "Right, no time for jokes." He whipped out his Styler and aimed at a nearby Wartortle. "Capture on!" he shouted, firing the Capture Disc forward. He quickly formed loops around the turtle, just as Kellyn had. "Wartortle, Water Gun!"

Just like Kellyn, Crawford used the Wartortle to put out the fire before him. He then hopped over the fallen tree and snatched up the small Happiny he had seen nearby. "Don't worry, Happiny, I got you." He slid to a stop when his Styler began to beep like crazy. "What the heck is going on here?" He looked his Styler over. "Oh shoot, it's just too hot here. My Styler is fried!"

"Need some help?" Kellyn asked as he stepped up to where Crawford was.

"Yes, thank you!" Crawford spoke before handing the Happiny to him. "Did you find any?"

Kellyn nodded. "I found one."

"We need to put this fire out before we'll find the last."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"I don't know…" Crawford began to look around. "There's got to be a Pokemon somewhere around here we can use."

"How about a Blastoise?" Kellyn asked as he looked ahead at the small river that ran through the forest.

"And where would we find one of those?" Crawford asked.

"There." Kellyn pointed forward and Crawford whirled around. On the other side of the river was a large turtle-like creature. It had a large brown shell and its skin was dark blue. It also stood on its hind legs, much like Wartortle. "Capture on!" Kellyn shouted and fired his Capture Disc forward. He brought the Disc around to form a loop, but just as he did the Blastoise swung its arm around, striking the Capture Disc hard and sending it flying aside. "Ah! My Capture Disc!" Kellyn quickly looked down at his Styler, noticing its energy had dropped significantly.

"Watch out, it's strong," Crawford spoke and Kellyn nodded.

"If Kate can do capture things like this, so can I." Kellyn brought his Styler forward and the Capture Disc quickly returned to his Styler. "Let's try this again." He fired the Disc once more and it flw forward towards the Blastoise. The Blastoise roared loudly and the front of its shell popped open in two spots, releasing rather large pipes from its backside. "Oh shoot!" Kellyn shouted.

"Blastoise!" the Blastoise shouted before unleashing two powerful streams of water forward from the pipes.

"Hydro Pump!" Kellyn shouted and quickly pulled his Styler away, but the Hydro Pump quickly cut through the Capture Line, sending the Disc flying smack into Crawford's face.

"Watch it!" Crawford shouted.

"Sorry!" Kellyn looked back down at his Styler, noticing the energy level. One more good hit like that, and his Styler's energy would be depleted. He gripped his Styler tight and held it forward. The Disc returned to the Styler, and Kellyn felt his senses go blank. It was as if everything had gone dark. There was no sound, no sight, no taste or touch, not even the smell of the fire. Slowly, Kellyn's senses returned one by one. First his hearing. He could hear the very footsteps of the Blastoise and every move it was making.

Then his sense of smell returned, but what he smelled was not the fire, but instead was the scent of the Blastoise itself. His smell and hearing seemed to form of a vision of the Blastoise in his mind. His sense of touch then returned, and he could feel the steps of the Blastoise as each step shifted the ground around him. He smirked and released the Capture Disc without waiting for his other two senses to return.

Crawford's eyes went wide as he watched Kellyn shift the Styler carefully so the Capture Disc looped around the Blastoise. The Blastoise swung its arms, and Kellyn looped the Capture Disc around its arm, creating a loop and avoiding the attack. The Blastoise roared loudly and once again readied the pipes on its back. It took aim at the Capture Disc and unleashed its Hydro Pump attack once more. Kellyn quickly shot the Capture Disc up into the air before looping down and swirling between the turtle's feet.

The Blastoise brought its leg up to stomp on the Disc, and just as it tried, Kellyn released the Capture Line, returning the Capture Disc to his Styler. The moment it had returned, he fired it out once more, this time sending the Capture Disc up the side of the Blastoise and around it's stomach. Kellyn quickly formed five solid loops around its stomach before performing a quick vertical loop around the whole of the creature. When he did, the Capture Disc returned to his Styler and his senses of sight and taste returned to him. "Capture complete."

Crawford's mouth was left hanging so wide open that one might have been able to see his lunch. "H-how did you do that?"

Kellyn blinked for a moment, then looked down at his Styler. "I don't know…I just felt like my entire body connected directly to its body, and I found myself moving in perfect rhythm with it."

"I've never heard of that kind of thing happening before. Do you suppose…that's why Kate is able to capture so well? Do you think she does that as well?"

Kellyn nodded. "No doubt. It came to me when I thought of her, actually. It was like her spirit passed into me for a single moment, helping me along." He turned to Crawford. "I didn't capture it, Crawford. It was her."

"Amazing."

The Blastoise quickly rushed over to Kellyn and he turned towards it. "Blastoise, use Rain Dance!" The Blastoise nodded and rose its head and arms up. It began to wave its arms ever so slightly before stomping its feet. The turtle had literally begun to dance, and as it did, dark clouds suddenly formed high in the sky above them. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled for a single moment before a downpour of rain came from the clouds.

"Had I known it was going to rain, I would have brought an umbrella to this fire," Crawford joked and Kellyn gave him a glare. "No time to be joking, right." As the rain poured down, the fires began to die down. Crawford's Styler began to beep as the forest began to cool, causing his Styler to return to normal. "Thank goodness. The fire's dying down now. This rain was just what we needed."

Kellyn turned as he looked out towards Vientown. "Thank you, Kate," he spoke. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you."

. . .

"Happiny!" Mimi shouted as Crawford and Kellyn walked over to her. All three of her missing Happiny were at their sides and Mimi quickly rushed over and gave them all a big hug. "Don't you ever run away from Mimi again, understand?" she spoke very sternly, a surprise for someone such a young age to do. "Thank you, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Kellyn." She gave a bow. "Mimi's Happiny are safe now."

"You're welcome, Mimi," Crawford spoke with a smile.

"Let's go home, Happiny." Mimi and her Happiny walked off.

"So, any idea what caused the fire?" Barlow asked.

"Oh yeah, no doubts about what happened," Crawford spoke. "As soon as the fire had died down, we saw several of those strange machines throughout the forest. Thing was, they were all destroyed. I can only guess the Pokemon here had been driven so crazy that they lashed out at everything and anything, including the machines."

"So they're all destroyed?" Barlow asked and Crawford nodded.

"Every last one."

"And we still don't know what they are…" Barlow sighed and turned. "Who goes there?" he shouted suddenly and Crawford and Kellyn whirled around. Suddenly, a man took off at a run and Kellyn quickly took off as well. Before the man could get anywhere, Kellyn tackled him to the ground, pinning him down. "Why were you trying to run away?"

The man squirmed, but remained silent. Barlow then noticed the man was covered in burns. "Let's take him back to the base for treatment," Barlow spoke as he folded his arms. "We'll question him there as well. He must know something about what was going on here if he was trying to run."

"Good idea, Leader," Crawford spoke with a nod. Barlow stepped forward and pulled the man up with a good tug. He then grabbed his arms and twisted them behind the man's back.

"Don't think you're going anywhere. I'm the strongest Ranger in Vientown." The man squirmed a little, but still remained silent. The four of them then made their way back to Vientown and back to the Ranger Base.

. . .

"So, are you going to talk or not?" Barlow asked as he stared at the man now that they were back at the base.

"It's no good," Elaine spoke with a sigh. "We tended to his burns all nicely for him and he still won't talk."

Barlow shrugged. "It can't be helped. Crawford."

"Yes, Leader?" Crawford asked.

"Bind him up a smidgeon on the tight side. He'll stay that way until he decides to talk."

"Understood, Leader." Crawford pulled out a length of rope and wrapped it around the man. He pulled it nice and tight, and then tied it.

"He smells like oil," Luana spoke as she stared at him from her seat on one of the benches in the base.

"Hey, oil reeking guy, give us a name at least, otherwise we'll just call you 'Oil Reeking Guy'."

The Oil Reeking Guy didn't speak a word. "You want us to think up a nickname for you, don't you?" Luana asked.

"Not a problem," Barlow smirked. "'Oil-Reeking-Creeper'!" He laughed, but then noticed that no one else found his joke funny.

"Barlow, leave the comedy to me," Crawford spoke. "That fell so flat you can't even use a spatula to flip it." Luana giggled at that. "It was too long and it has no spark."

Barlow folded his arms. "You can come up with something better?"

"'Oil'," Luana spoke up. "A name that sounds like 'oil'. 'Ollie'!" The Oil Reeking Creeper smiled at that. "You like that? I like that, too."

"Ollie it is, then," Barlow spoke with a smile. "So, Ollie, could you please explain to us what you were doing out there in the forest?" Ollie just kept silent. Barlow grumbled. "He'll talk when he's hungry. Leave him like that for now." He then stepped over to Luana. "How's Kate doing?"

"Fine, she's sleeping right now, has been for a while" Luana responded. "She should be able to move around starting tomorrow. That wound was pretty bad, though."

Barlow nodded. "I understand."

"About when did she fall asleep?" Kellyn asked and Luana looked up at him in confusion.

"Why?"

"I'm curious. I think, somehow, she helped us today."

"Helped you? What do you mean?"

"I think Kate's spirit reached out and touched me while we were out there today. I think our spirits connected for a single moment and she transferred her powers to me for that moment."

Luana stared at him in confusion. "What powers? And how would that even be possible?"

"I don't know, but I've seen the way she captures Pokemon. When it gets intense, she seems to become a completely different person and she seems to become one with the Pokemon. For a single moment, the same thing happened to me, but I know for a fact that it wasn't my own doing. I felt another presence there. I think it was Kate's."

"What was mine?" Kate asked as she stumbled into the main room of the base.

"Kate!" Luana shouted and growled. "Why the hell are you out of bed?" She stormed over to her.

"I-I just wanted to see what the commotion was about," Kate spoke quickly.

Luana looked down at Kate's leg. "You're bleeding again."

Kate looked away. "I-I know."

Luana sighed. "How many times do I have to say it, you can't move that leg!" She quickly scooped Kate up and walked her to a nearby bench. She set her down and immediately snatched up the first aid kit and once again began to care for Kate's leg.

"What was everyone talking about?" Kate asked as she looked out to everyone. "And who's this guy?" Barlow explained the situation to Kate and she nodded. "I see. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you guys."

"Actually-" Kellyn began.

"It's no problem!" Barlow quickly shouted, which made Kellyn turn quizzatavely towards Barlow. "For now, let's keep this between just us. I don't want to worry Kate over something we don't really know anything about, yet."

Kellyn nodded. "Yeah, it was no problem. I mean, all we had to do was catch a Blastoise and then have it use Rain Dance."

"A Blastoise? I had a dream where I was catching a Blastoise!"

Kellyn and Barlow blinked curiously. "Did you, now?" Barlow asked. "Tell me all about it."

"Well, after Luana finished tending to my leg, we lied down and…" Kate turned a little red. "W-we snuggled a little bit." Luana blushed after that statement and the three guys turned to Luana.

"Snuggled?" Barlow asked. "You two aren't…?"

"No!" Luana quickly shouted. "N-no. She just…missed her friend, Rhythmi a lot, and she hasn't had anyone to snuggle with since she graduated."

"And she only came to us yesterday, but, that's not really important." Barlow turned back to Kate. "Continue?"

"W-well, I fell asleep at some point during that. The next thing I knew, I was in a world with absolutely no senses. Then, suddenly, I began to hear things, the sound of a creature in front of me. I listened to it for a moment and my mind formed the vision of a Blastoise. Then, I smelt it, I could smell it, and I knew it was a Blastoise for sure. Then I felt its movements under my feet. I felt…bonded to it at that point. I held my Styler forward and proceeded to capture it. When I did, the dream ended."

"Barlow," Kellyn spoke and Barlow nodded.

"Kate, there's something you need to know," Barlow spoke up.

"What's that?"

"We didn't catch that Blastoise we told you about."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Kate asked, giving Barlow and Kellyn a confused look. Kellyn shifted in his position and then explained what had happened that day with the Blastoise. "You think…that I…?"

Kellyn nodded. "There's no other explanation."

"But that doesn't make any sense!"

"And yet the dream you had was exactly the same as what happened, what I felt."

"How is that even possible?"

Kellyn shook his head. "I don't know, but this isn't the first time. I've seen you, Kate. When the fight gets tough, you become someone else. You seem to suddenly become one with the Pokemon and move perfectly in rhythm with it. You never fail to capture anything, and you've succeeded in capturing multiple Pokemon at a time on several occasions! Kate, there's something very special about you. I don't know what, but I know it."

"You think I have some kind of special powers?"

Kellyn shrugged. "It's the only thing I can guess. It's almost like…you were born specifically for what is happening right now."

Kate gave a nervous chuckle. "O-okay, whoa, slow down a little bit. The only thing special about me is that I'm a lesbian, ok? I'm shy and I'm a lesbian. That's it. There's nothing else special about me."

"You always wanted to be a Ranger, right? Ever since you were a kid? No one has ever known that. A lot of kids think 'I want to be a Pokemon Ranger when I grow up!' and then they get into Ranger School and they flunk out. Remember those three boys in our class? What were their names…I don't even remember now… The point is, they flunked out. They didn't really want what they thought they wanted. The other kids there had all made the choice a year or so before they joined to be a Ranger. You wanted to be one since you were a kid, you dedicated yourself to it, you aced the entrance exam! Only Keith had done that before you, and he studied for a year how to capture! You had never even picked a Styler up and you caught it better then Keith did! Kate, you're special, and I don't know how or why, yet, but you are!"

Kate looked down. "I…I don't know…" Kate closed her eyes and sighed.

"You also connect to the hearts of humans as easily as you do to the hearts of Pokemon."

Kate opened her eyes and looked at Kellyn curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"You and Rhythmi hit it off in an instant. Rhythmi was there for three months more then you. The only friend she had made the entire time was Keith. You come in and suddenly she and Keith were friends with you. That wasn't a coincidence. You see, Rhythmi came to me one day…"

. . .

Rhythmi knocked on the door to the boy's dorm. "Kellyn?" she called out. "Are you in there?"

The door slid open and Kellyn stood there, looking down at Rhythmi. "Yes?" he asked.

"I need someone to talk, too."

"Why not talk to Kate or Keith?"

"Hell no!" Rhythmi shouted, then quickly looked down sheepishly. "I-it involves Kate. I can't talk to her about it…and I can't talk to Keith about it. So, I thought…maybe…you would listen?"

Kellyn folded his arms over his chest. "Why would you trust me with information about your lover that you don't trust your best friend with?"

"She's not my lover!" Rhythmi spoke up a bit. "She's…something else…Please, just let me inside so we can talk privately."

Kellyn sighed. "Fine, but if people find out I let you into the boy's dorm when it was just me in here, and strange rumors start spreading…It's your fault, and I'm going to leave it for you to clean up."

"Fair enough." Rhythmi looked down and Kellyn stepped aside. She stepped into the dorm and he shut the door behind her.

"Now, what do you need to talk about?" Kellyn asked as he sat down on his bed.

Rhythmi stepped over and sat down next to him. She then pushed her hair back a little before beginning. "The first day that Kate arrived, as she walked up to Ms. April's desk to introduce herself…I felt something reach out for me when she passed by. I don't know how to explain it, but it felt like…something gripped me, and I was suddenly so happy to see this person, as if I was seeing her again for the first time in years, even though I had never seen her before.

"When she introduced herself, all of the guys began to crowd around her. She has a great body, and I'm certain some of the guys were thinking rather sexy thoughts about her… And then, she opened her mouth, announcing she was a lesbian."

"Yeah, so?" Kellyn asked, not understanding where she was going with that.

"I fell in love right away," Rhythmi continued. "But, it wasn't love…and I knew it wasn't. I wanted this girl. I wanted her to be my closest friend. Her heart and mine were connected. After that, I was given the task of touring her around. During that time…I wanted nothing more than to grab her and just start fucking her!"

Kellyn coughed. "'F-fucking' her? Kind of vulgar language there."

"Would you prefer I said 'I wanted to take her and stick my fingers in her pussy and play with her'?"

Kellyn rubbed the back of his neck. "N-no, I suppose not."

"Anyway, I felt connected to her. I've always been bisexual, but I've never really cared too much for girls. I mean, I like their boobs, but that's about it. But Kate…that was a totally different story."

"Not to interrupt but…it sounds to me like you just have a bad case of lust for her."

Rhythmi sighed and looked down. "Maybe, but…I don't know…" She buried her face in her hands. "Kellyn…I'm worried. She and I had sex for the first time yesterday. We weren't going to, but it just sort of happened. We're not girlfriends, though, we're just friends. Am I turning into a whore? I don't want that to happen!"

"Rhythmi…" Kellyn spoke and rubbed her back.

. . .

"Wh-what was that supposed to tell me?" Kate asked, unsure of what the story she had just been told meant.

"It means you touched Rhythmi in a way no one else ever had. The moment you stepped near her, she felt connected to you. Keith came to me saying the same thing. The moment he met you, he felt connected to you. There's something inside of you that lets you connect directly to the hearts of both Humans and Pokemon. You're special."

Kate looked down. "I…I still don't know…"

Kellyn nodded. "I know, none of it makes any sense, but maybe you'll figure it all out one day."

Kate nodded. "Well, just being special won't get me anywhere right now. I've got to heal up enough to be useful to you guys again." She smiled. "Luana, could you help me back to bed?"

Luana nodded. "Sure." She lifted Kate up and carried her off to the dorms. She stopped at the doorway and turned back to the others. "I think I'm going to turn in as well if you don't need me."

Barlow nodded. "That's fine."

Luana stepped into the dorms and shut the door behind her. "You think they're going to do it?" Crawford asked as he nudged Barlow.

"Shut up, Crawford."

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this so far. Please don't forget to hit the review button! I'd love to know your thoughts on the story ^^<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I better make this note now...this chapter...is freakin' weird...I like how the chapter came out, but it's freakin' weird...It takes a major step off of what happens in the game, and I'm sure the rest of the story will continue to do so. If you don't like the occurrences of this chapter...I'll understand, but keep in mind that I've always been planning to do the kind of stuff that happened in this chapter since the start. I hope you will enjoy this chapter, though, and also the rest of the story, and please don't forget to review once you've finished the chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Kate yawned as she stepped out of the dorm rooms. "Good morning, everyone," she spoke with a smile before noticing the worried look on everyone's faces. "Something wrong?"

"This is bad," Barlow spoke. "In fact, it's terrible. In fact, it's horrible!"

"What's wrong?" Kate asked as she tilted her head in confusion. Whatever was going on, she knew nothing about it.

"Professor Hastings is on his way here," Luana spoke.

"That's good, isn't it?"

"It would be good, if he wasn't walking from the Ranger Union to here all by himself!" Barlow spoke up loudly.

"Oh, that wouldn't be good, wouldn't it?"

"No! The professor is an important person! He could get lost in the Vien Forest, or worse, captured by whatever evil organization is putting these strange machines all over the place!"

Kate nodded. "I see, then there's only one thing to do. I'll go search for him and make sure he's safe."

Barlow folded his arms over his chest and nodded sagely. "Yes, that probably is the best idea. Best do it at once."

"No problem, sir!" Kate saluted.

"What about your leg?" Kellyn asked as he stood up from a nearby bench. He was the only one without a worried look on his face.

"It's fine, see?" Kate waved her leg around. "It's been two weeks since the injury, so I'm fine now."

"You're positive?"

Kate blinked. "Yeah, why?"

Kellyn shrugged. "Just making sure." He turned and walked to the dorms, leaving Kate with a rather confused look on her face.

"Oh well," Kate spoke with a shrug and a sigh. "All right, time to find the Professor!" She walked out of the base and straight towards Vien Forest.

"That confounded Wendy!" Professor Hastings shouted as he walked through the Vien Forest with his cane. "'I'll take you to Vien Town in a jippy, Professor, just ride on my Staraptor.' She said that even though she knows how I hate flying! Besides, a good jog is great for your legs! Why, I'll be laughing at her when she can't even walk anymore because she flies everywhere!"

"I'm sure she didn't mean to offend you," a voice spoke, making the Professor jump clean out of his skin.

"What? Whose there? What kind of rude person eavesdrops on old guys?" Hastings asked as he looked around before his eyes caught on Kate who was now standing in front of him. "Oh! A young Ranger? You look very familiar..."

"We last met during the one-day internship, Professor," Kate spoke with a smile.

"Oh, yes! Kate, isn't it? Been a good while since I saw you. Seems you've become a mighty fine Ranger, haven't you?"

Kate nodded. "I have, sir."

"Well, keep up the good work, I'm on my way to Vien Town, so I'll see you another time."

"About that, sir. I came to escort you, actually."

"Escort me? Bah! Does Barlow thing I can't manage myself?"

"Well, he was a bit worried..." Kate spoke, a little unsure of the Professor.

"Well, in either case, I'll be just fine. However, if you'd like to join me for a jog the rest of the way back, you may."

Kate nodded. "That would be fine, sir."

"Professor Hastings!" Barlow spoke, pulling himself up straight and saluting as Professor Hastings and Kate entered the base.

"At ease, you don't have to be so formal, Barlow," Hastings spoke. "Now then, this machine you said was so urgent I needed to look at it right away, where is it?"

"Over here, Professor," Barlow spoke as he stepped over to the broken down machine. "This is it right here."

"Goodness me! It's one of those things!" In an instant, the entire base turned to each other with a worried look.

"'One of those things', Professor?" Kate asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, I saw these in Pueltown. Four guys in strange black suits were carrying them around. I assumed they were mailboxes! Strangest mailboxes I had ever seen, yes, but mailboxes none the less!"

"Rangers, scramble!" Barlow shouted immediately and the entire base lined up. "You heard the Professor, these things were last spotted in Pueltown. That's directly north of here, through Vien Forest! We may not have any idea what they are, but we know what they can do! We have to take care of them at once! I want you all to split into teams of two and investigate Pueltown fast! Crawford, Kellyn, you two investigate the west side. Kate, Luana, the east side, understand?"

"Right!" the rangers shouted in unison.

"Elaine, the Professor, and I will all stick around here to investigate this machine further."

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Elaine spoke loudly. "I finally get to pull it apart?"

Barlow sighed. "Yes, you do."

Elaine's eyes seemed to glimmer with a sadist glow for a moment before she produced a rather large toolbox seemingly from nowhere. She gave out an evil-sounding cackle before rushing off to the machine. "You're mine now! All mine!" She immediately began to dig into the machine with her tools.

"Err...right then," Barlow spoke before turning back to the other rangers who were all staring with the same uncertain look. "Rangers, move out!" Barlow instructed and the rangers quickly threw out their poses and then dashed out of the base, heading north to Pueltown.

"Lookout Ridge," Luana spoke as she stopped, turning to look at a cliff nearby. Kate stopped as she noticed Luana had stopped as well. Luana stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked out, giving a sigh. "I love coming here."

The view from the cliff was breathtaking. The land before them seemed to stretch out infinitely to the horizon, where the mountains in the distance seemed to meet with the sky. Below that seemed to be a small forest, and in the center lied a massive black tower. "See that tower? They say it's going to be a symbol of peace here in Almia."

"It's amazing," Kate spoke with a smile, then looked down. At the bottom of the cliff she could see Pueltown. She wondered, though, why it was called Pueltown since it seemed like a rather large city. Sure, it didn't have skyscrapers as tall as the sky, but there wasn't a single building she could see that didn't have at least three floors.

"I like to come up here and relieve stress," Luana spoke as she stared out at the horizon. She inhaled deeply and shouted at the top of her lungs, "TALK OLLIE!" This made Kate jump back. Luana giggled at this. "Sorry, it's just a nice place to come up and scream. It gets it out of your system, you know?"

Kate looked out to the view and nodded simply. "Don't people hear you from way up here?"

"That's the awesome part, they actually don't. You get a beautiful, relaxing view, and you can scream till your blue in the face and no one will hear you, unless they're nearby of course."

Kate nodded again. "I see." She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. Was there anything she needed to get off her chest? Something she had been holding on to for a while that she could let out in one loud scream? Yes, actually, there was. Something that had been nagging at her since a few days after her graduation. "Rhythmi!" she shouted out. "I want to talk to you! I...I love you!" A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away.

"You really miss her, don't you?" Luana asked, putting her hand on Kate's back. Kate nodded as she looked down. "Hey, it'll be okay. You two will see each other again some day, I'm sure of it."

"But how do you know that? What if...if I never see her again?" Kate's body was shaking now.

"Oh, honey." Luana grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace. "If that happens, you'll just have to let go. I know it'll be hard...I had a boyfriend at the Ranger School when I was there. I had to let go of him because there was just no way it would work between us either."

"But was he your first?" Kate blurted out and Luana blushed deeply, now understanding a bit more.

"He was," Luana spoke after a moment. "Rhythmi was yours as well?" Kate only nodded in response. "I'm really sorry, honey." The two remained in that position for several minutes, but eventually, Luana knew they needed to get moving. Crawford and Kellyn would have already have arrived at Pueltown and would be wondering where they were. "Come on." Luana took Kate's hand and the two walked down the path that lead down the backside of the cliff and into Pueltown.

"Took you two long enough," Kellyn spoke, his arms folded as he looked scornfully at Luana and Kate.

"Sorry, we got...distracted," Luana spoke as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"'Distracted'?" Crawford asked. "Don't tell me you two-"

"No!" Luana quickly interrupted. "I'm perfectly straight, thank you."

Crawford shrugged. "Well, we just know Kate isn't so...when you say things like that, it makes people think..."

"No, no, no! A thousand times, no! We're just friends!"

"Then why are you holding hands?" Crawford smirked.

Luana growled. "Because Kate was feeling down so I was pulling her along!"

"Riiiight."

Luana stormed up to Crawford and smacked him hard on the head. "Want to make another comment?"

"No!" Crawford whimpered.

"Good."

Kellyn cleared his throat. "As...amusing as this all is, we have a bigger issue. Listen."

Kate and Luana listened carefully. "Ah! It's that noise!" Kate shouted immediately.

"Right, the noise made by those strange machines. That means that they've not only been placed, but also turned on. For all we know, it could be too late to truly save this place."

Kate rose her fist. "It won't be, not if we get in there now!"

"Hold on, Kate. This won't be that simple. Remember, when you destroy one of those things it explodes. Before anyone tries to use a Pokemon to destroy it, make sure no one else is in the way. We don't want innocents being hurt like Kate was last time."

"That would be bad, yes," Luana spoke with a nod.

"Keep in mind that Professor Hastings statement seems to suggest there is also more then one of these things," Kellyn spoke very sternly. "After all, we did find four in Vien Forest."

"So we'll need to take them all out before the Pokemon will be saved," Kate spoke with a nod.

"Remember, we can't capture the Pokemon under the control of these machines either. Our stylers are just plain ineffectual on them. These machines are weak against high-powered water attacks, so make sure you have a lot of them with you. You'll have to catch them from out here because you won't be able to catch them in there, not that I think many water Pokemon will live in a city anyway, but still."

Kate, Luana, and Crawford all nodded. "All right, let's split up. Everyone grab three water Pokemon," Kate spoke. "That'll give us the best advantage, right?"

Kellyn nodded. "Not to mention all of us except for Crawford are Rank 1 Rangers. We can only carry three Pokemon at a time."

"I forgot about that," Luana spoke and nodded. "All right, so we know the plan. Everyone move out!" With that the group split up, searching the nearby area for any Water Pokemon they could find. Much to their luck, a small river was nearby and they were able to get what they needed from there. They then rushed inside the town, splitting up according to Barlow's orders.

"Wait, is that it?" Luana asked as her and Kate stopped in front of a strange blue machine. It looked much like the machine they had seen in the Marine Cave, having the same rocket-like shape and the same silver ring in the center that was spinning ever quickly. It also produced the same noise as the machine from the Marine Cave, the odd alien-like noise as Kate had explained it.

"Yeah, that's one of them," Kate spoke. "All right, Bibarel, let's go. Water Gun that machine!" A small brown creature rushed forward, wagging its large flat tail as it moved. It's buckteeth chattered as it stared at the machine and it opened its mouth, inhaling deeply. When it exhaled, a blast of water shot forward, striking the machine.

"It didn't do anything?" Luana asked as she stared, noticing the machine was still in perfect condition.

"No, it must have...That's how you destroy them..." Kate spoke as she turned to her remaining two Pokemon, both Wartortles. "Let's try that again. Wartortle, Water Gun!" One of the Wartortles stepped forward and inhaled, unleashing a blast of water forward at the machine. Again, it seemed to do nothing. "But...that's how you destroy them! I don't...what's wrong?"

Luana slowly stepped towards the machine, reaching her hand out and touching it carefully. "Kate, come here." Kate stepped forward and Luana took her hand, setting it on the machine. "Feel that?"

"It's not warm..." Kate spoke as she stared at the machine. "The one in the Marine Cave was warm, almost burning hot..."

"Burning hot...like fire? The machine was red! Which means!"

"It was some kind of fire element thing!" Kate spoke after realizing what Luana had realized. "And this one is blue, which means...water! We need an electric type!"

Luana nodded. "And we need to let the others know as well." She pulled out her Styler. "Voicemail! Voicemail! This is Ranger Luana to Rangers Crawford and Barlow! Come in!"

"Ranger Crawford here, but I'm kind of busy!" Crawford's voice spoke over the Styler. "What's up?"

"Have you seen any of those machine around your area?"

"Yeah! In fact, we're currently...fighting some Pokemon right now! Whoa! Seems they don't want us getting near it!"

"What color is the machine?"

"What? Why does that matter?"

"Because, we've encountered a blue one over here. We need an electric type to destroy it, it's immune to water moves because its some kind of water element thing."

"That explains it..." Kellyn's voice could barely be heard. "Luana, can you hear me? I'm using my Styler on these Pokemon right now, I can't open it to communicate! We've encountered a green machine over here! I repeat, a green machine! If what you've said is true, we need a Fire Pokemon over here! You and Kate need to go out of Pueltown and find some fast!"

"You heard that, Kate?" Luana asked as she turned. Just as she did, she watched Kate reach down and touch a small dog-like creature on the head. When she did, her eyes met with it, and after only a moment, Kate collapsed to the ground. "Kate? Kate!"

"What is this?" Kate asked as she looked around, seeing nothing but a black void all around her. "Where am I? What is this place? Why am I not with Luana?"

Suddenly, Kate grabbed her ears as a loud noise seemed to suddenly ring in her ears. It was a strange noise, almost like the sounds of one of the machines, but it was different. It sounded slightly different then she recalled, as if she was hearing it from another person's ears.

Suddenly, Kate felt her smell restored, but what she smelled were not the scents she had smelled before she fainted. These were different scents, and she notice each scent seemed separate. "What's going on? What am I smelling? Wait...that smells like...metal?"

Suddenly, Kate's sense of touch was restored, but she did not feel the cold cement beneath her, like the feeling of lying upon the ground she expected to feel. Instead, she felt the ground beneath her hands and her feet. "What's this? This doesn't feel normal...It feels...like I'm..."

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash and Kate squinted as the light around her began to diminish. As it did, she began to see the sights of Pueltown once more in her vision, but these were not the sights she expected to see. She did not see from the view of a person lying on the ground. In fact, she didn't even remember opening her eyes. These were a different sight entirely.

"What the heck am I seeing?" Kate asked as she turned her head, noticing that her vision seemed to move with it. She tried to stand on her feet, but her balance felt off, like she wasn't meant to stand on two legs. It was at this moment she truly looked down at herself. "What the hell?" Where her hands should have been against the ground, there were long orange and black striped paws. She turned her head back, and she saw a long orange and black striped body, and a white puffy tail. "No, no way..." she spoke and began to look around frantically.

It was then that Kate stopped and her eyes went wide as she saw Luana shaking her body. "Kate, wake up!" Luana spoke loudly. "Kellyn, Kate just fainted and I can't wake her up! I need you guys to get over here quickly!"

"That Growlithe I touched...somehow I...became it? No...what was it Kellyn said? I connect to the hearts of Pokemon and humans? I must have connected to that Growlithe I touched, but by doing so...I actually connected to it this far. This is just like that dream with the Blastoise!" She then looked stern. "All right, Kate, who knows how long this is going to last. They needed a fire Pokemon? They've got it!"

Quickly, Kate turned and rushed forward, darting as fast as she could down the street. "I've got to find Crawford and Kellyn!" she shouted and continued to run as fast as her legs would let her. It took only a few moments before she skidded to a stop, staring as she watched Crawford and Kellyn rush passed her. Behind them were a couple of small bird-like Pokemon with musical notes on their heads. "Flamethrower!" Kate shouted and unleashed a massive blast of fire from her mouth, scaring the birds off. When she did, Kellyn and Crawford stopped, turning to stare at the Growlithe that had helped them.

"Crawford, this Growlithe doesn't look like it's being affected by the machines," Kellyn spoke.

"But how is that possible?" Crawford asked as he watched the Growlithe rush forward. "Let's follow it!"

"What about Kate?"

"You go to Kate, I'll follow the Growlithe."

Kellyn nodded and took off while Crawford took off towards the Growlithe that was now running from him.

"There it is!" Kate shouted and skidded to a stop not far from the strange green machine. "All right, it's time for a...wait..." She stepped up to the machine and stared at it intently. "This says something here..." She put her front paws on the machine and looked at it closely. "Gig...a...rem...o..." She spoke as she read the word on the machine. "Type: Grass. Wait, Gigaremo?" she asked as she stared. "Whatever, not important." She quickly pushed away from the machine and stepped back. "Here it goes! Flamethrower!"

Kate breathed in and unleashed a blast of fire forward at the machine. The fire struck the machine and immediately seemed to wrap around it, engulfing the machine in flame before it exploded outwardly, sending debris in all directions. "Type: Grass! That means we were right!" She turned. "There's a second one here?"

It was true, not far away, Kate could see a second green machine. Kate nodded and growled as she rushed forward. "Flamethrower!" she shouted and unleashed a blast of fire at the machine, causing it to explode much like the one before. "I did it! I...whoa..." she stumbled and suddenly, it felt like she was becoming disconnected from the Pokemon. It was only a moment later before she bolted upright, finding herself sitting next to Luana and Kellyn.

"Kate!" Luana shouted and hugged her. "Oh thank Arceus, we thought something horrible happened!"

"No time for that now," Kate spoke as she jumped to her feet. "We've got to destroy these machines before they cause any more trouble."

"But there isn't an electric Pokemon around here. Kellyn looked."

Kate turned to Kellyn, now noticing him there for the first time. "Kellyn? What are you doing here? I thought I saw you...nevermind." She shook her head. "There are electric Pokemon in the west side of Pueltown. The machines there were destroyed, we can capture Pokemon there now."

"How do you know?"

"Complicated, I'll explain later. Where's Crawford?"

"He went off chasing a Growlithe that saved us from a couple of Chatot," Kellyn spoke.

"Voicemail! Voicemail!" Kate shouted as she pulled out her Styler. "This is Ranger Kate to Ranger Crawford! Come in!"

"Crawford here!" Crawford spoke over the Styler.

"Are you still in west Pueltown?"

"Yeah, I was checking out this crazy Growlithe. It didn't seem to be-"

"Not important. Capture two electric-type Pokemon and hurry over here!"

"But the Growlithe-"

"We'll focus on your Growlithe later! We have to save these Pokemon, quick!"

"Right, Crawford out." The Styler beeped, signifying Crawford had shut off the voicemail system.

"What's going on?" Luana asked.

"Let me show you." Kate stepped forward and knelt down next to the blue machine. "Yeah, right here, just like the green ones. Take a look." She pointed to some engravings in the machine.

Luana and Kellyn both stepped over and examined the engravings. "What...does that mean?"

"I can only guess 'Gigaremo' is the name of the machine. Meanwhile, the type is what it is. Red is fire, green is grass, blue is water, just like we expected."

"How did you know about this?" Kellyn asked, looking at Kate curiously.

"The Growlithe," Kate spoke and sighed. "I don't know how...but it was me. I saw it when I reached the others."

"That's why you told Crawford it wasn't important," Kellyn spoke, realizing what was going on.

"Right. I knew he was going to say that you saw a Growlithe not being controlled by the Gigaremo. The truth was, it was being controlled by it. I knelt down to examine it for a moment, and when I made eye contact with it and touched it...I don't know...I became it..."

"You connected with its heart and mind," Kellyn spoke, bewildered and Kate nodded.

"I'm here!" Crawford shouted as he rushed over to them. "You wouldn't believe it, though! That Growlithe we saw-"

"Was Kate," Kellyn spoke, looking Kate directly in the eyes.

Crawford went speechless, just staring at the two of them. "Wait, what?"

"Not important, use Thunderbolt on this Gigaremo."

"Geega-who-wha?" Crawford asked and Kellyn shook his head.

"The blue machine. It's called a Gigaremo."

"How do you know?"

"We'll explain at the base. Just do it."

Crawford nodded and turned to the small silver balls behind him. On two sides of the balls were long black horshoe magnets that had red and blue markings on the ends of them. A screw also seemed to be partly screwed into the top of the ball, and a large white circle with a dot in the middle seemed to serve as an eye for the creature. "Magnemite, Thunderbolt that thing!"

The Magnemite floated forward and electricity cracked through its magnets before unleashing them forward in a large bolt of electricity. The machine began to spark and fizz before erupting violently in an explosion like the others before it.

"There should be one more, just to the north of here," Kate spoke. "It should be the last one."

Crawford nodded and rushed forward. Sure enough, straight to the north there was another blue machine. "Magnemite, Thunderbolt that machine!" The second Megnemite unleashed a bolt of elecricity that cause the machine to erupt in an explosion like the first. When it did, Crawford noticed the noise of the machines was gone. "We did it, we got them all! Yes! Wait till I tell the others!" He quickly turned, rushing back to the group.

"This isn't good," a man spoke as he watched the Rangers beginning to celebrate their victory.

"We still got one," a second man spoke and the first nodded. "Let's make a break for it and report back to our leader!" The two men quickly jumped from their hiding spots and took off at a run.

"Look!" Kate shouted as she saw the two shady figures run off. She waited for no response and immediately took off at a run towards them.

"Kate!" Luana shouted and took off after her. Kellyn sighed, shook his head, then rushed off as well.

"Guys?" Crawford asked as he arrived a moment later to the location the Rangers had been a moment before. "Where did you go?"

"The expirement went well," a shady voice spoke as Kate stopped and crouched behind a set of boxes. She had followed the figures down to the Pueltown docks. "Let's ditch this backwater place and get out of here."

"What about the Rangers?" one man asked and as Kate snuck her head up to look over the box, she noticed the man wore a tight black suit, almost like a wetsuit. His hair was even covered by a cap one would expect to see with a wetsuit.

"Does it matter? Let them have this victory, we got our results and that's what counts." Kate looked to the source of this voice. It was the first shady voice she heard when she arrived. This one belonged to a guy wearing a sturdy outfit that looked like a pair of black pants with purple stripes up the sides of them. There was also a black jacket that went over the top of the outfit and had a strange V shaped symbol on it with a small swirl in the center of the V. This man had brown hair that he kept perfectly combed to one side of his face.

"Kate!" Luana shouted in a whisper and stopped next to her. Kate quickly pulled her down to keep her out of sight. "What's going on here?"

"Something bad," Kate spoke as she pointed out. "Look, they have another Gigaremo here as well. This one is yellow."

"Electric?" Luana asked and Kate shrugged.

"Most likely."

"What are we going to do?"

"Confront them."

"You're just going to barge out there and ask them what they're up to?" Kellyn asked as he creeped up to the girls.

"It works in video games, doesn't it?" Kate asked and Kellyn shrugged. "All right, here we go." She jumped up onto the top of the box. "You there! Stop what you're doing right now!"

"Shoot! They found us!" one of the guys shouted. Kate now noticed that aside from the one man in the special outfit, there were four others, all wearing the same wetsuit-like outfit. That one must have been their leader.

"I am Pokemon Ranger Kate Yamaki of Vientown Ranger Base! I demand that you stop what you're doing here and explain who you are and what you're doing right away!"

"Hey!" one of the guys in wetsuits shouted. "What do you got against the Gigaremo, huh? You blew up all of our precious Gigaremo except the electric one here, but you'll never figure out that you need a ground move like Earthquake to destroy it!"

"Yeah!" a second one shouted. "Why did you Rangers have to come in here all of a sudden and stop the works of us, Team Dim Sun?"

"Yeah!" a third one shouted. "We were just expirementing to be certain that our Gigaremo units would give us complete and total control over all of the Pokemon in a given area! I mean, seriously, not like it was anything bad or anything!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the leader spoke up. "Why did you idiots just go blaming all of that?" The four men in wetsuits looked at each other, then looked down, ashamed. He sighed and turned to Kate. "Well, I guess you know all of that now, but it's not like it'll be enough to stop us. Toxicroak!" He reached over and flipped a switch on the yellow Gigaremo. "You're up!"

A shadow shot up from behind the group, flying high into the air. Kate looked up, then quickly kicked off the box she was standing on, just barely in time to avoid being struck as a long hand swung down at her, slicing through the box as if it was paper. As Kate landed, she looked up at the monstrosity that was no in front of her.

The creature before her was a monsterous beast, standing at least four foot tall, if not more. It's had had a long spike that stuck out of the top of it and below its chin was a large red orb that expanded and shrank as the creature breathed. Two long thin arms came off its shoulders, extending down to near the creatures knees before stopping at a single monsterous red spike that came off of the knuckles of its hands. It's legs were short and bent, looking as if it was ready to leap right off the ground into the air once more. It's skin was a sickly blue color, looking almost poisonous, and it had a large, sickly grin that showed off its sharp teeth. It's eyes were small and sat at either side of its head, and it had no real neck as its head simply extended out to the rest of its body. "Croak..." it spoke in a sickly voice that made Kate cringe.

"Oh damn," Luana swore as she stared at the creature before them. Toxicroak were very rare and powerful poison-type Pokemon. The creature's poison was so potent that even a tiny scratch caused by the creature could be fatal. "What are we going to do here, guys?"

"Capture it," Kate spoke as she readied her Styler.

"Are you forgetting they have a Gigaremo, Kate?" Kellyn asked. "You won't be able to capture it."

"Watch me." Kate held her Styler forward. "Capture on!" she shouted as she released the Capture Disc from the Styler. Immediately, the Toxicroak got into battle position. As the Disc grew closer to it, it pulled its arm back and the spike on its knuckle began to glow. A quick swing was all it took, the Disc was sliced perfectly in half, each piece falling to each side of monster. Kate's eyes went wide, and as her eyes glanced down at her Styler, she watched as the energy dropped to 0 and her Styler de-activated. A moment later and it fell from her hands and she dropped to her knees.

The Dim Sun leader laughed at Kate's misfortune. "Not even a Pokemon Ranger can stand up to Toxicroak!" he spoke. "Toxicroak, end this now!" The Toxicroak leapt forward, pulling its arm back and the spike on its knuckle began to glow once more.

"Kate!" Kellyn shouted. He quickly rushed forward, pushing Kate out of the way. However, he didn't have time to move himself and the monster's poisonous claw dug deep into his shoulder. He screamed in pain as the claw dug deep into his shoulder, releasing its terrible poison deep into Kellyn's body. The monster pulled its hand back, and Kellyn collapsed to the ground.

"Kellyn!" Luana and Crawford shouted and rushed to his side. Kate could only stare, her eyes wide, not being able to believe the scene she was seeing. Had Kellyn really sacrificed his life just to save her? Why? Why would he do such a thing? Why was she so special that he would do that just for her? Was it...that he really did care for her after all? He had never shown any sign of caring for her at all, not even a desire to be friends, yet now, at this moment, he had done all this just for her?

Kate stood to her feet, her eyes looking down. Her fists balled up at her sides and her arms began to shake with anger. At first, a low growl seemed to come from her mouth, but then, it grew louder and louder. Her face turned to sheer rage, and her eyes seemed to burn with hatred. They would pay for what they did. They would all pay! She rushed forward, slamming her first hard into the face of the Toxicroak, knocking it back a moment. Before it could react again, she grabbed it by it's chin and glared deeply into its eyes.

There it was again, that connection, just like she had made with the Growlithe. All of her hearing, all of her feeling, all of her sight, every sense had been connected to the Toxicroak's senses. They're minds and hearts had become one and Kate collapsed to the ground. "What's going on?" the Dim Sun leader asked as he stared at the now frozen Toxicroak before him.

"You people will pay," Kate spoke from her own body, but after that, she was in full control of Toxicroak. She turned the beast towards the Dim Sun members, roaring loudly.

"Shit! It's gone beserk! Move! Get that Gigaremo out of here!" the leader shouted and the four wetsuit guys quickly jumped over to the Gigaremo, lifting the thing up with all of their combined might. Toxicroak roared again then swung its arm forward at the leader, who barely managed to sidestep out of the way of the attack. "Move! Go!" the leader shouted and the wetsuit guys quickly began to carry the Gigaremo to a nearby docked boat.

The Toxicroak swung again, and the leader quickly ducked beneath its arm. Toxicroak roared loudly and pulled its arm back the spike on its knuckle glowing brightly once again. It swung its arm forward, and the leader quickly pushed backwards with his legs. It would have been the perfect move, if his arm hadn't swung out, just barely brushing against the monsters claw. He screamed as he held the small cut in his arm, already feeling the Toxicroak's poison begin to run through his body. When his feet finally touched the ground after what seemed like several minutes, he quickly ducked down under the monsters arm, then kicked off with his feet to make a mad run for the boat.

Toxicroak roared loudly once again and leaped high into the air. It pulled its arm back and its legs slammed into the top of the boat, pushing it several inches down and buckling the ceiling of the boat. It tore its claw deep into the ceiling, ripping into it and cutting it apart like paper. "Go!" the leader shouted as he jumped onto the boat, and the boat took off at full speed. Toxicroak lost its balance and fell backwards into the water. The moment it hit the water, the connection with Kate was broken and she bolted upright.

"No!" Kate shouted. "They're getting away! Damn it!" She slammed her fist into the dock. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Tears formed in her eyes, dropping down to the dock beneath her. "Damn it," she barely uttered in her crying.

"Is he?" Crawford asked as he looked up at Luana.

Luana shook her head. "He's alive, but only just. If we can get him to the hospital, he might still survive."

Crawford nodded. "Not an issue." He quickly swung Kellyn onto his back and took off at a mad dash.

"Hey now," Luana spoke as she stepped over and knelt down next to Kate. "He'll be okay. I promise."

"Why did he do it?" Kate nearly screamed as she grabbed onto Luana's collar. "Why didn't he just let it kill me? Why did he do it?"

Luana growled and smacked Kate hard across the face. "Because he knew he had to!" She grabbed Kate and picked her up. "Listen to me! You're special. You can do things no one else can do! You not only freed that Toxicroak from the Gigaremo, you somehow managed to take it over and control it! No one else could do anything like that! He knew that if anyone's life was the most important, it was yours! But not only that, he knew that he wouldn't be doing his duty as a friend and fellow Ranger if he hadn't tried! Now, you quit that damn crying right now! He'll be perfectly fine!"

Kate sniffled. She still felt angry and sad at the same time time. She felt worthless, and she felt as if she had failed everyone. When Luana let her go, she just collapsed to the ground, not moving. "So that's it, then? You're just going to lie there and feel sorry for yourself now?" Luana asked coldly, but Kate didn't respond. "Fine." She turned and walked away, leaving Kate behind.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter and the story as a whole thus far ^^**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"How is she doing?" Barlow asked as he folded his arms, looking directly at Luana. The two were standing in the Ranger Base in Vientown.

"She's doing better..." Luana spoke and sighed. "She's still blaming herself for what happened to Kellyn, though."

"And how is Kellyn?"

Luana sighed. "He's doing better. We got him to the hospital just in time, but he took a good dose of that poison. I'm not sure when or if he's going to be back up and able to work again."

"The Ranger Union will have my head for this one..." Barlow sighed and closed his eyes, tilting his head down.

"It's not your fault, Barlow." Luana put her hand on his back. "They're both rookie rangers being thrust into things they shouldn't be. Almia's become dangerous all of a sudden, and there's been no time to prepare either of the rookies for it."

"Still, remember our views on what has happened and is happening is not always the same as those of the Ranger Union." Barlow looked up at Luana. "People have been terminated for lesser things then this."

"They won't terminate you, Barlow," Luana spoke sternly. "I know it."

"I wish I could agree with you."

"Hello, everyone," a voice spoke and Barlow and Luana turned to the door.

"Bertha!" Barlow spoke up. "Of what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I brought you all some milk pudding."

Barlow's eyes lit up like a six-year-old who had just been handed a piece of candy. "I love your milk pudding!" Barlow rushed forward but Bertha put her hand out, stopping Barlow in his tracks.

"I still can't get over how strong she is," Luana spoke as she stepped over towards Crawford, who had been standing nearby reading the newspaper.

"Who? Bertha?" Crawford asked. "Yeah, she's the strongest person in all of Almia, that's for sure."

"No wise cracks about that one?"

"Considering she could break me in half like a twig if I did? Nope, not a single one."

Luana giggled. "You've got a point there."

The door to the dorms slid open as Kate stepped out. Her eyes showed just how upset she still was. Her head was lowered as she stared at the ground. "Hello, everyone," she spoke, now standing in the doorway, not moving.

"Kate, good to see your up," Barlow spoke with a smile. "Hey, come over here." Kate simply did as she was told and stepped over to Barlow. "You remember Bertha, right?"

"Yes."

"She brought some of her special milk pudding for all of us. Not only is it good for you, but it's delicious."

"Here, have some, dear," Bertha spoke and pulled a small container from her dress and handed it to Kate.

"Thank you." Kate didn't even look up, and once the container was in her hand, she made no move to do anything with it.

"Something wrong with her?" Bertha whispered to Barlow.

"One of the other Rangers got her," Barlow whispered back. "She's blaming herself for it."

"Oh dear." Bertha sighed. "Well, anyway, here's some pudding for all of you." She stepped over and handed containers to both Crawford and Luana before handing one to Elaine and Professor Hastings, who were both still had at work at dismantling the destroyed Gigaremo. She then turned to Ollie and stepped over to him.

"Just put a spoon in his mouth," Barlow spoke and folded his arms. 'That'll be enough for him."

Bertha turned, giving Barlow her famous death glare that made even him duck in fear. "How can you be so mean, so inconsiderate? This poor guy is the most starved out of all of you!"

"But he won't talk."

"And no wonder, treating him like this." Bertha turned back and pulled out a container of the pudding. She opened it and produced a small plastic spoon that had been stuck inside the cover. "Here you go, dear," she spoke in a sweet voice as she spooned some of the pudding and put it in Ollie's mouth. "Eat up now. Be careful and don't spill it all over yourself." She spooned another scoop into his mouth. "There you go, you don't have to chew this either, so you go ahead and eat all you want."

Ollie's eyes grew wide and his heart sunk. His eyes began to water and soon he busted out into tears. "It's my fault!" he shouted, which made everyone jump back. Bertha had gotten him to talk? "I...I didn't mean for any of that to happen. I didn't even know those guys. They just hired me to fill the fuel of the Gigaremos. Except...except...I tripped. I spilled the fuel all over the place. Then, one of the Gigaremos activated and its spark plug blew, causing the machine to explode. It caught the fuel on fire and it carried to the rest of the forest. I'm so sorry!"

Bertha smiled, then turned to Barlow and gave him another death glare. "Now, how can a man wipe his own tears when he's all tied up in such a tight rope? You best untie him right now!"

"O-of course, Bertha," Barlow whimpered. "Umm...Kate, could you?"

"Yes," Kate spoke blankly and stepped over to Ollie. He sniffled and she grabbed the rope, pulling on it. After a moment, her blank expression changed, showing she was getting aggrivated. She couldn't get the rope untied for anything. "Damn it, Crawford!" she shouted suddenly which made Crawford jump. "You tied this damn rope way too tight!"

"Let me help you," Luana spoke and stepped over to Ollie and Kate. the two began to fight with the rope, and soon, instead of untying it, they found themselves also tied up in it.

"Damn it, Crawford!" the two shouted in unison and Crawford ducked behind a bench.

"Let me..." Elaine spoke as she grabbed a small tool from her toolbox. She stepped over to Ollie and with a quick flick of her wrist, the rope snapped apart from bottom to top, freeing all three of the ones now trapped in it. She then grumbled as she walked back to the Gigaremo.

"Elaine's been up all night working on that Gigarama," Barlow spoke.

"Gigaremo," Kate spoke up and turned to Barlow.

"Gigaremo? Bah, it doesn't really matter. I was close enough." Barlow shrugged. "What the important thing is now is that we keep watch. We know nothing about this...Team Din Sum..."

"Team Dim Sun," Kate corrected Barlow again.

"Right..." Barlow spoke with another shrug. "In either case, we don't know anything about them, and we don't know what they're planning. As such, we'll need you all to be careful from now on."

Kate and Luana nodded and Crawford stepped out of hiding and gave a salute. "So now what do we do?" Luana asked.

"Patrol," Barlow spoke with a nod. "It's all we can do. Keep an eye out for any Team Dim Sun activity and call if you see anything suspicious, and I mean anything."

"Yes, sir!" Crawford, Luana, and Kate all spoke up at once.

"Also, Kate, I know how you feel right now, but now is not the time to mope. Kellyn is doing fine, and I'm sure he'll be back on his feet soon. For now, just don't worry about him. We need you out there on patrol as well, but I can't send you out there if you're moping."

Kate nodded. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

Barlow smiled. "Good. All right, then, Rangers, head out!"

"Before we go, check this out," Crawford held out the newspaper that was in his hands. "It's the Almia Times, and it's got a big story about our little adventure yesterday."

Kate took the newspaper and looked it over. "'Are the machines from Vien Forest the same ones from Pueltown?' Well, duh. That's pretty obvious. 'Team Dim Sun, who are they?' I want to know that, too. Oh, here's a good one. 'Heroic Rangers to the rescue!'" She smiled, then her eyes went wide. "Wait a minute! When did they take this picture of me?"

Luana stepped over and blinked as she looked at the picture. It was a picture of Kate looking rather stern, as if she was getting ready to charge. "This must have been...when we were about to head to the docks!"

Kate looked up at Luana, then back at the picture. "But I didn't see any reporters there..."

"Paparazzi," Luana spoke and sighed. "They hide, they take pictures, and then they sell them for high prices to the media to use in all kinds of stuff. Generally, they sell scandal pictures." She grabbed the newspaper from Kate's hand and flipped a couple of pages before they happened upon an article about a celebrity with a picture of her in a rather precarious position. "See? Guy made a fortune on this picture alone I'll bet."

Kate blushed at the picture then quickly turned away. "Well, they certainly know what they're doing it seems."

Luana nodded. "They're terrible people, though. Always be on your guard. You never know what you could be doing when one will get you. Especially in Pueltown."

Kate nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." She stepped towards the door of the base.

"Wait!" Ollie shouted and rushed over to Kate. "Kate..." he sniffled and wiped his eyes. "Do me a favor?"

"What?"

"My mo- err...friend lives in Chicole Village. If you're going on patrol, could you take me with you?"

Kate looked up at Barlow who nodded. She smiled and nodded at Ollie. "All right, but be careful out there. I can only guard you to an extent. Who knows what Team Dim Sun is planning and why."

Ollie nodded. "I know."

"While you're there, why not visit your family?" Barlow spoke with a smile. "They haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh! I want to go!" Luana spoke up. "Please, Kate?"

Kate giggled. "All right, but my family's not that amazing."

"But it's your family! And they live right here in Almia! My family lives all the way in Johto!" Luana rushed over to Kate. "Not to mention that they're the people who brought up such an amazing person."

"I'm really not that amazing..."

"You can touch the hearts of Pokemon to the point where you can control them...How is that not amazing?"

Kate sighed. "I guess..." She stepped out the door of the Ranger Base and Luana and Ollie followed behind.

"Chicole Village," Kate spoke as they stepped into Chicole Village. "This is where my parents live. Their farm is right to the south."

"They live on a farm?" Luana squeeled. "That's so cool!"

Kate sighed. "I suppose so. Anyway, Ollie, where's this friend of yours live?"

"This way," Ollie spoke and started walking forward. Kate and Luana followed behind until they reached a small house. Ollie opened the door, then stared as he stood in the doorway. It was a quaint little house, only really big enough for a couple of people, but from what Kate could see, only one person lived here, and that was a girl with long brown hair that was standing in the kitchen.

"Mom..." Ollie spoke as he stepped towards the kitchen. "I'm...I'm sorry..." The woman seemed to stop what she was doing, but she didn't turn around. "I'm always causing you problems...I've clumsy, I'm stupid, and I'm just...problematic..." He sighed. "I know I always make you worry, and sometimes, I make you cry. I'm really sorry...I just...I didn't mean to be gone this long...I guess...I'm home now..."

The woman turned with a smile. "You didn't have to say any of that," the woman spoke and stepped up to Ollie. "All I wanted to hear was 'I'm home'. You didn't have to apologize for anything, and your definitely not stupid or a problem. All I wanted to hear out of you was that you were finally home." She wrapped her arms around Ollie and he returned the embrace.

"Wow, who knew Ollie had such a wonderful mom?" Kate asked.

Luana nodded. "He seems to be a good guy at heart," she spoke. "If his mom is any indication of what he's really like, then they're both sweethearts."

"I'm sorry, Ranger," Ollie spoke as he turned back to Kate. "I was ashamed...I lied to you because...I was afraid..." He sighed. "It wasn't a friend I waned to meet, it was my mom."

Kate smiled. "Hey, don't worry about it, all right? I can see you're really nice at heart. Just remember to have courage, okay? You can't do anything in life if you cower behind excuses or by shutting down when something happens. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear, but the will and the strive to push passed it to do what is right."

Ollie nodded. "Thank you, Ragner. I'll remember that." He smiled.

"Your welcome, and hey, call me Kate, okay?"

"Kate...thank you."

Kate nodded and her and Luana stepped out. "Your parents next?" Luana asked.

Kate shrugged. "Sure." They walked through Chicole Village until they came to the farm that Kate's parents were running. When they did, she opened the door and smiled. "I'm home," she called out and at once Mary came rushing towards her.

"Onee-sama!" Mary shouted before tackling her sister to the ground.

"Ha ha, Mary, I love you." Kate ruffled her sister's hair and she huffed and quickly straightened it back out.

"Welcome home, Kate," Kate's father spoke with a smile as he stepped over to her. "And who is this charming young woman?"

"My name is Luana, Mr. Yamaki," Luana spoke before giving a bow. "I'm one of the Rangers in Vientown."

"Are you now? Well, good to meet you." Kate's father shook Luana's hand, then turned to Kate. "Well, don't sit on the floor all day."

Kate quickly jumped to her feet. "Sorry." She rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"So, how are things going now that you've been a Ranger for a while?"

Kate shook her head. "A lot of things have been going on...It's a long story."

Kate's father smiled. "And I have a long time to hear it."

Kate giggled. "All right, then." Kate explained what had happened to her thus far. From the Gigaremo blowing up in Marine Cave and injuring her leg, to the battle with Team Dim Sun in Pueltown. She even explained about how she had discovered her strange powers, and how she still didn't understand why she had them or how she was supposed to use them properly.

"Well, Kate, let me tell you something my father told me when I started working as an administrator at my last job," Kate's father spoke. "He said 'With great power comes great responsibility.' Let me tell you, when you realize you have the power and the ability to do something, you'll want to do it right away. The thing to keep in mind is, you're responsible for what happens afterwards. That Toxicroak you told me about? I have no doubts that that was not the best way to use that kind of power. Yes, you freed the Toxicroak from the Gigarimo-"

"Gigaremo, Papa," Kate corrected.

"Right, sorry. Gigaremo. You may have freed the Toxicroak from the Gigaremo, but you used it to attack the people controlling it. You could have turned its power to the Gigaremo and taken it out, but instead you were blinded by anger, and instead of taking out what was causing the problem, you tried to kill innoncent human beings. In fact, I desperately hope the man you told me of made it to a hospital in time. Even a scratch from a Toxicroak's claw can be fatal."

Kate nodded as she looked down. She hadn't thought about that. She had scratched the man's arm. Sure, it wasn't much, but it was still a scratch from a Toxicroak. "So what should I do then?"

"Keep your emotions in check at all times. It's not easy to do, especially since you're female. Not to say that females have emotional problems, but..." Kate's father looked around a moment. "During your...'moments' you women do seem to have issues with keeping your emotions in check because of your hormones."

Kate threw her arms up, as if in defense. Her face showed horror at the comment. Did he really just talk to her about...THAT? "Papa!"

"I'm serious!" Kate's father spoke up at once. "It's true that women have greater issues with their emotions because of their hormones. That is not to say that man are not or cannot be just as emotional, it's just that being emotional seems to be easier for women. So, I know keeping your emotions in check will be hard, but it's something you have to do. You cannot let anger blind you. Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, and suffering leads to-"

"While the quote fits, I don't really think you need to say it to make your point," Kate interupted with a glare.

Kate's father chuckled. "But it's true, though. Anger will lead you down the wrong path, and it can even eventually darken your heart and make you do things you don't want to do. Just think about the guy in those movies and how he became the main villain in the end. All because he let his anger control him. You have great power, Kate, you need to figure out how to use it properly and not be tempted to use it wrongly."

Kate nodded. "Thank you, Papa." She hugged him and her father returned the embrace.

"Now, you should be getting back to work."

"Right." Kate turned and walked over to Luana, who had been playing a game with Mary for the majority of the time they had been there. "You ready?"

Luana nodded. "I have to go now, Mary," she spoke with a smile. "It was fun playing with you."

Mary nodded. "Come back and play with me again sometime, okay?"

"I will, Mary, I promise." She stood to her feet and turned back to Kate. "Well, let's go." Kate nodded and the two headed back out.

For the rest of the day, Kate's thoughts had been fixated on what her father told her. Sure, he had used a lot of cheesy quotes, but still, he was right with every one of them. She did have great power, and she had to figure out how to use it responsibly. She didn't want this ability to turn her down the wrong path. After all, if she used these powers to take out Team Dim Sun in anger, how would she be any better then them? She remembered another famous quote from another movie she had seen.

"'Then it will happen this way: You make the kill, but your pain doesn't die with Harvey, it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life. And you won't know why'," Kate quoted.

"Excuse me?" Luana asked as she looked at Kate curiously.

"Thinking about what my Papa said. He was right. I have to learn to use these powers properly. If I don't, it could drag me down the wrong path, make me who I don't want to be. I can't let anger cloud my judgement, and I certainly can't mope anymore. If I do, then I'll just keep thing about how Team Dim Sun hurt Kellyn. In turn, I'll become consumed with it and want revenge, but when I do get it, then what will it mean for me? Nothing...I'll just keep searching more and more, not knowing why."

"Those are some pretty profound thoughts."

Kate nodded. "Yeah, and I'm glad my Papa made me think them." She smiled. "So, let's go patrolling. I'm sure there's someone we can help out there." Luana nodded and the two journeyed off to continue their patrol.

. . .

"What is that?" Professor Hastings asked as Elaine pulled a small black crystal from the machine.

"I'm not sure," Elaine spoke as she examined it. "I could try pulverizing it with a hammer, or drilling a hole through it."

"Ah, no!" the Professor spoke quickly and snatched the stone up. "I think it is best that I take this myself and research it at the Union." He turned to Barlow. "Barlow, I'm going to need you with me to tell me more about these machines and your encounters with them."

"Yes, sir," Barlow spoke with a nod.

"What's going on?" Kate asked as she stepped into the base.

"Professor Hastings needs me to go with him back to the Union. You and Luana will be in charge of the base while I'm gone."

"Why not me?" Crawford almost whined.

"Because you care more about fooling around then actually taking care of the place." Crawford looked sheepish at that. "Anyway, I'll leave you two in charge."

Luana nodded. "All right, leave it to us." She smiled.

"Try not to burn anything down, though, okay, Luana?"

"For Arceus' sake, it's only toast I burn!"

"More like incinerate..." Elaine grumbled.

"Oh? Like you're any better, Miss Take-Everything-Apart."

"Excuse me?" Elaine stepped toward Luana.

"Enough!" Barlow bellowed then shook his head. "If this is how you're going to act now, I don't think I want to know what condition the base will be in when I get back..."

"I'll keep everyone in line, sir," Kate spoke with a nod.

"Thank you, Kate." Barlow smiled.

"Let's be off, Barlow," Professor Hastings spoke as he marched to the door.

"Farewell for now, everyone, I'll be back soon."

Barlow and Professor Hastings made their way out the doors of the Ranger Base and off to the Union. The Rangers gave a sigh before Kate stretched. "I'm going to turn in, got a lot of thinking still to do. Please try to get along since Barlow's not here..."

Luana and Elaine rubbed the back of their necks nervously and watched as Kate headed to the dorms. The day progressed fairly uneventfully, but they did not know of what was to come the very next day.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter and the story as a whole thus far ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Voicemail! Voicemail!" Barlow's voice spoke over Kate's styler. "This is Ranger Barlow to Ranger Kate, do you copy?"

"What is it?" Kate groaned groggily. She was lying in bed, still half asleep.

"Wake up, Ranger!" Barlow shouted into his styler and Kate jumped to her feet and saluted.

"Ranger Kate awake and ready, sir!" It took a moment before Kate realized that no one was there. "Barlow?"

"Your styler, Kate..." Barlow spoke, sounding annoyed.

"Sorry!" Kate shouted and grabbed her styler. "What's going on?"

"There is an Gigaremo Countermeasures Meeting at the Ranger Union in two hours. We need you to make your way here. Also, make sure to obtain a Pokemon who can do a Target Clear on a Red Gigaremo."

"Understood, sir, I'll find a water-type that knows Water Gun right away!" Kate quickly rushed out of the dorms. "Barlow called, he needed me to get to the Ranger Union for a meeting, Crawford, you're in charge!"

"Wait, Kate!" Crawford shouted as she rushed through the door. "You're...not dressed..." He sighed. It was only a moment later before the doors slid open and a very crimson Kate entered. "By the way..."

"I'm not dressed...Yeah, I realized that..." Kate sighed as she returned to the dorms to get dressed.

"Okay, Pueltown..." Kate spoke as she stared at the map in her hands. She had made it through Vien Forest and to Pueltown in about half an hour or so, and had even caught a good level water-type Pokemon as Barlow had requested, but it was at this point when she realized she had no idea how to get the rest of the way. She stared at her map, trying to figure out where it was she was supposed to go next.

"You look lost," a voice spoke and Kate looked up from her map. Her eyes examined around her for a moment, but she saw no one. She then looked back down to resume examining her map when she noticed a young girl in front of her. The girl wasn't very old, only ten or twelve at the oldest. She wore a black blouse and red skirt while she had her blonde hair cut fairly short so it didn't reach her shoulders.

"Oh, hello, little girl," Kate smiled. "I am a little, actually."

"Where are you going?"

"Well, I'm trying to find the Ranger Union..." Kate sighed. "It's passed Pueltown...but I don't know how to get there."

"There's a man named Murphy in Pueltown who just came from there. Maybe he can show you the way!"

"That would be very nice, do you know where he is?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, come with me, I'll show you." She turned, but before she started walking, she turned her head back to Kate. "By the way, my name's Melody."

"Nice to meet you, Melody, I'm Kate Yamaki." The two made their way deeper into Pueltown until they came upon a somewhat large man dressed in a green suitcoat and pants. A white dress shirt was underneath the suitcoat and he had his brown hair styled so that he would look very professional.

"There he is." Melody pointed at the man and Kate rushed over to him.

"Murphy?" Kate asked and the man turned to her.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Murphy, former Ranger and now head of PR at the Ranger Union. What do you need, Ranger?"

"I need you to show me the way to the Ranger Union. I was called there for a meeting."

"Ah, that's pretty simple," Murphy began.

"Onii-sama!" Melody shouted as a door opened nearby. Kate turned and her eyes went wide.

"Isaac?" Kate nearly shouted.

"Kate! It's been too long! How have you been?" Isaac asked as he smiled. Melody rushed over to him.

"I'm good, thank you." Kate turned to the building he had come out of. It was a rather large building, still in construction. The beams they were using to build it were painted purple in color, and she noticed a smaller building that seemed to have been built prior to this new building at the base of it. "Is this where you work?"

"Yeah, this is Altru Tower, tentative name, of course."

"Tentative name? You mean they haven't named it yet?"

"You don't know? There's a contest running right now for the name of the tower."

"I sent in 'Muscle Tower'," Murphy chimed in. "It's a strong name, don't you think?"

Kate chuckled nervously. "Umm...sure..." She turned back to Isaac. "Well, it's nice to see you again. I haven't seen you since graduation. I'm working in Vientown right now, actually."

"Really? If I had known that, I would have come to visit on occasion."

"Kellyn works there, too..." Kate looked away and sighed. "At least I think...He got badly injured on our last mission...We're not sure if he'll be able to work again or not."

"I'm sorry." Isaac put his hand on Kate's back. "Everything will be all right, though, you'll see."

"Oh! Is this your sister, Isaac?" Kate asked when she realized Melody was standing there and had called out 'Onii-sama' only moments before.

"Yes, this is my sister, Melody."

"You have a very cute sister, Isaac." Kate smiled and Isaac chuckled.

"Well, that's pretty true."

"Move out of the way, President Hall is coming through!" a voice shouted and Kate looked up.

"Who?" Kate asked.

"Uh oh, it's Blake Hall, President of Altru Inc. He's a nice guy, but he's very serious."

The crowd nearby seemed to split into two lines, and after a moment Kate began to see a man stepping out of the crowd. He had green hair that stuck up in a weird style, and his face was even weirder. Kate swore for a moment that he was a pig, not a human, when she saw his face. He wore a blue and white striped suit and he was slightly hunched over. His arms were skinny, so much so that Kate wondered if the man had some major birth defect that caused his horribly misshapen body, especially since he looked to be quite fat. "You work for him?" Kate asked, almost disgusted.

"No, that's Wheeler," Isaac spoke with a tone suggesting he had no care for the guy either. "That's Blake Hall."

Behind of Wheeler was another man. This man was dressed in a purple dress shirt and he wore a pair of black dress pants and a black dress coat over his shirt, though he had it left open. His hair was a deep black color, and it was long enough for him to pull it up into a ponytail in the back. The thing that impressed Kate the most was the very sharp sunglasses he wore. The edges looks as if they were so sharp they could cut through plastic as if it was paper.

"That's Blake Hall? That cool guy?" Kate asked, shocked beyond belief. She had never expected a president of a corporation to be dressed so cool. She figured he would be in his sixties with gray hair and walking with a cane, like Professor Hastings, not looking like he was only thirty at the oldest.

"That's him," Isaac spoke with a nod.

"Isaac," Blake spoke as he stopped next to Isaac.

"President Hall," Isaac gave a bow. This was the first person Kate had ever seen him bow to.

"Working hard, I hope."

"Yes, sir, I was just taking my lunch break when my friends and sister showed up."

"Lunch break?" Kate shouted. "What time is it?"

"12:30," Isaac spoke, surprised she didn't know.

"I have to get to the Union!" Kate shouted and grabbed Murphy. "Show me the way, and quickly!"

Murphy laughed. "Relax, I got you, no worries. Just follow me." He began to walk off.

"Nice to see you again, Isaac, bye!" Kate rushed off after Murphy and Isaac laughed.

"Friends with a Pokemon Ranger?" Blake asked and Isaac nodded.

"We went to school together."

"I see..." Blake stepped forward and into the Altru Building with Wheeler and Isaac behind him.

"And here we are!" Murphy spoke as he waved his hand out towards the impressive building now before them. The Ranger Union was massive, at least 4 floors high. On the top of the Union, Kate could see a large tree growing up into the air. "Th-there's a tree up there!"

"There is," Murphy spoke with a smile.

"Amazing!" Kate stepped forward until she walked straight through the doors of the Ranger Union. The inside was much larger then she had expected it to be. There was a reception desk in the center of the bottom floor, and people were lined up on one side, obviously hoping to find out more information about what was going on now in the region, or were even seeking help.

"Welcome to the Ranger Union, Kate," Murphy spoke with a smile. "If you have to attend a meeting, you'll be able to get there by simply going up the escalator over there to the second floor. The meeting room will be the middle room."

"Thanks, Murphy."

"Ah, Kate, glad you made it in time, I was worried," Barlow spoke as Kate entered the meeting room.

"Sorry about that, Barlow, I got lost. WHOA!" Kate shouted as she stared at the room she was now in. The room was fairly large and had several computer screens all around. At their feet was an even large screen that showed an image of the Almia region with several different notes all of it, showing troubled areas.

"Impressive isn't it? The Ranger Union is unlike anything else I've ever seen. I'm still amazed by this place whenever I come here. By the way, we'll be beginning the meeting shortly."

"Right." Kate nodded. A few minutes passed as the other members of the meeting showed up. Of course, one was Professor Hastings himself, while the others were mostly just researchers. There were four that were carrying a very heavy and fully restored Gigaremo into the room. "Is it really okay to have rebuilt the thing?"

Barlow nodded. "You'll understand why soon enough."

"Sorry I'm late, ya'll," a voice spoke and Kate turned. A very attractive woman walked in at that moment wearing a red, knee-length dress that had white stripes down the sides. A jacket then covered her chest and where the dress was white, so was her jacket, but where the dress was red, the jacket was black. She had long green hair which was obviously a dye job that she was only long enough to end just below her shoulders.

"Welcome, Wendy," Professor Hastings spoke with a nod.

"Whose that?" Kate asked Barlow in a whisper.

"Top Ranger Wendy, also known as the Flying Ranger," Barlow responded. "One of ten Top Rangers in the Ranger Union. Others also include Ben and Summer who are currently in Fiore, along with Sven. Sven thinks he's a cowboy or some such..."

"Who are the other six?"

Barlow shrugged. "Never met them, though you might like Ben and Summer. There's currently a bet going on for when they're going to finally confess to each other."

Kate blushed a little. "People bet on stuff like that here?"

"Only on those two. They've been Top Rangers for about two years now, and they've always been together. It's obvious they like each other, but they refuse to say so."

"All right now," Professor Hastings spoke up. "Looks like we're all here, so let's get this meeting started. This is a meeting to let people know about the Gigaremo and how to stop it. Barlow."

Barlow stepped forward. "The Gigaremo is a powerful device. It can control the minds and actions of any Pokemon within a one-hundred yard radius. Put six of these things in Pueltown, and you've have absolute control over the entire city."

"Interesting," Wendy spoke up. "And so what do we do about this?"

"Each Gigaremo is made out of a different material. For example, if you were to touch this one, you would notice that it is extremely warm, almost burning hot."

Wendy stepped over to the Gigaremo and placed her hand on it. "Doesn't feel hot to me." Barlow smiled and flipped a switch on the Gigaremo. It began to hum loudly as the silver ring in the center began to spin slowly, picking up speed after a few moments, and then finally taking off at full speed a few moments after. Kate quickly readied herself for a sudden attack of any Pokemon since the machine was on.

"Ow!" Wendy shouted as she pulled her hand away after only a moment. "It got that hot that quick?"

Barlow nodded. "Hear that strange sound?"

Wendy blinked, then nodded. "Sort of like a weird pulsing noise."

"That's the sound that controls Pokemon."

"Wait, why did you turn it on if it can control Pokemon? Isn't that bad?"

Barlow nodded. "It would be normally, yes, but I had to turn it on to show you the heat of it and let you hear the sound. Plus, it has to be on to deal with it." He turned to Kate. "Kate, if you please. Everyone, stand back, and I'm not kidding when I say that."

Kate nodded and walked forward. "All right, then, Wartortle, Water Gun!" The Wartortle stepped forward and unleashed a blast of water at the machine. The machine crackled and fizzled for a moment as the water hit the machine. After a moment, just like every time before, the machine exploded violently, sending debris in every direction.

"Whoa!" Wendy shouted. "That was an explosion!"

"Exactly. The first time we encountered it, we took care of it the same way. Kate here got severely injured in the explosion when a piece of debris shot out and hit her in the leg."

Kate held up her leg. "I've still got the scar from it."

"As you can see, these things are extremely dangerous. So far, we know that there are four different kinds of them. Fire - which is red - water - which is blue - grass - which is green - and electric - which is yellow. At least, that's what we're assuming the yellow one is as we never got a chance to touch it or attack it. It was carried off by Team Dim Sun when we got to it."

"That's the encounter that Kellyn got hurt in, right?" Professor Hastings asked and Barlow nodded. "At least he's doing better now. Toxicroak poison is absolutely terrible."

"Wait, you mean to say they controlled a Toxicroak with that thing?" Wendy asked.

Barlow nodded. "It nearly killed both Kate and Kellyn. Luckily, Kate managed to...defeat the thing." Kate was a little surprised when Barlow didn't mention what actually occured during the encounter.

"In either case, we'll need to be very careful of these things," Professor Hastings spoke up. "Now, I bet I know what you're all wondering right now. 'Why didn't the Gigaremo affect any of the Pokemon nearby when we turned it on?' Yes?" The researchers and Wendy nodded. Kate also nodded. "If you would move your attention to the screen below you."

Everyone looked down and the screen changed to an image of a blueprint of some kind. It showed a Gigaremo with the top half lifted up. A small crystal-like object was seen between pieces. "See the crystal there? It's a small black crystal that makes the machine work. Remove it, and it won't do anything."

"So this crystal controls the Pokemon, does it? Interesting," Wendy spoke as she put her hand to her chin. "Might I ask some questions?"

"Sure," Barlow spoke and pushed Kate forward. "Kate has the most experience with them, so she can answer your questions for you."

"L-Leader!" Kate spoke up and became tense when she realized she was now in the spotlight.

"Kate, was it?" Wendy asked and Kate nodded nervously. "You've seen these units in action. How exactly does it make you feel?"

"How does it...make me feel?" Kate asked, confused at the question.

"To see Pokemon controlled by some evil device for who-knows-what purpose."

Kate put up a fist. "It makes me mad. I want to pulverize the guys doing it."

"Really now? And what about the Pokemon? How do they look when under the control of this device?"

Kate looked down. "They look hurt...They don't want to be controlled. It hurts...I think more then just emotionally. To be honest, some of them looked like they were in real physical pain. And then, there were the ones who looked confused. They would just fly or run in circles. Always...in circles...never stopping..." Tears rolled down her cheeks as her fists balled up at her sides. "And Team Dim Sun deserves every kind of punishment in the world for misusing Pokemon like this!"

Wendy smiled and nodded. "Well, I can tell your heart is in the right place. You care deeply for them. Don't worry, we'll bring them to justice one day." She patted Kate on the shoulder and Kate, without even thinking, jumped forward, wrapping her arms around Wendy.

"S-sorry, Wendy," Barlow spoke. "I'll just-"

Wendy held up her hand and pulled Kate close. "Hey, it's all right, we'll get them, okay? Don't you worry."

Suddenly, it was as if the ground itself shook below their feet. "Earthquake?" Kate asked, almost scared. She had never experienced an earthquake before in this region, nor in her last home.

"We don't get earthquakes here..." Wendy spoke, sounding worried. Again, the earth shook rather violently.

"Barlow, Kate, go out there and check out what is going on," Professor Hastings spoke up at once.

"Right away!" Kate and Barlow shouted and rushed out of the meeting room, down the escalator, and out of the Ranger Union.

"This is definitely where the quakes are starting from," Barlow spoke as he looked around. They had come to a place known as the "Peril Cliffs". They were known as such due to how dangerous the cliffs were. "Let's climb up and see what we can see." Barlow reached out and grabbed a vine tight with his hand, pulling himself up.

Kate followed closely behind, and the two made their climb higher into the cliffs. Once they had gone up a ways, they stopped and Barlow looked around. "All right, try to see if you can see anything."

The ground shook and Kate turned. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

"The ground rumbling?"

"No, it was something else." The ground shook again and Kate rushed forward.

"Kate!" Barlow shouted then sighed as he carefully followed behind her. They walked across some of the perilous cliffs before coming to a set of cliffs that looks almost like a set of stairs, if you were willing to jump down a couple of feet at a time anyway.

"Barlow, look!" Kate pointed down. There was a man dressed in a black outfit and next to him were two large gray raptor-like creatures. The tops of their heads looked as if something had cracked their head open, revealing a blue skull underneath, even though it hadn't been. One of the raptors roared and charged forward, slamming into the wall, expanding an already existing hole in the side of the cliff.

"Those are Rampardos!" Barlow spoke and growled. "Those are not going to be easy to take care of."

"That guy is obviously controlling them."

"But how? There isn't a Gigaremo or anything around here."

Kate thought for a moment, then shifted her weight forward. "Only one way to find out." She jumped, landing on the cliff below her. She then proceeded the procedure until she was at the bottom.

"Kate!" Barlow shouted and sighed. "I can't believe this is the same shy girl that joined our team a year ago." He jumped down the cliffs in the same fashion Kate had.

When Kate noticed Barlow was now at her side, she cleared her throat. "You there, Bad Guy!" she spoke up. "What are you doing to those Rampardos?"

"It's the Rangers!" the man shouted. "You fools won't stop me! These new Miniremo are just as powerful as our Gigaremo, but they have a million more commands!"

"'Miniremo'?" Kate asked.

"Rampardos! Charge!" The man pushed a couple buttons on the strange laptop in front of him and the two Rampardos turned to Kate and Barlow.

"Now you've done it, Kate." Barlow held out his Styler. "I'll take one, you take the other."

Kate nodded. "Capture on!" she shouted as she released the Capture Disc. Her eyes locked onto the Rampardos in front of her, and she felt herself connected to it just like before. She could feel the creatures very moves, and sense what it was thinking. She quickly jumped to the side as the Rampardos charged at her. She then twirled her Styler, creating a series of four loops around the creature.

This just served to anger the beast, and she could feel its anger. It was angry at her for attacking it, and it was angry at the man for controlling it. She knew she had to free it, and quickly. She pulled her Styler to the side and stared deep into the creature's eyes. It growled at her before charging once again. She quickly side-stepped to avoid the charge before grabbing onto the creature's arm, using it to pull herself onto the beast.

"What are you doing, Kate?" Barlow shouted as he noticed her position on the beast. Kate, however, didn't respond and simply held on tight. Rampardos roared loudly and began to move to shake her off, but as he did, she gripped harder, feeling his every move before he made it.

"Calm down," Kate spoke sweetly as she placed one of her hands on the creature's head. It began to shake even more fiercely, but Kate held on tight with her other hand. "You're okay, this man doesn't control you any more. Just relax." Rampardos roared again and Kate quickly jumped up, standing on its back. She held her Styler forward, releasing the Capture Disc once more and circling the beast a couple more times.

Rampardos had had it now. It roared its loudest roar and the Rampardos next to him roared in unison. "What the heck?" the man asked as he pulled his hands away from the Miniremo. "Something's wrong!" The Rampardos charged forward, slamming its head hard into the cliffside. When it did, it managed to knock several large rocks loose, which began to tumble down towards the ground.

Kate quickly kicked off the creature, landing on the ground next to it. She then performed a double backflip, landing away from the Rampardos as the rocks came down around it. She aimed her Styler forward, once again launching the Capture Disc. She quickly performed several quick loops around its head, arms, and legs while it was stunned by the rock fall.

Kate then performed another backflip as the creature broke free of the rocks that had fallen on top of it. The Miniremo was now beginning to go beserk - lights flashing, loud beeping, circuits beginning to crackle. "What's going on?" the man shouted as he stepped back from the Miniremo.

Kate stared the Rampardos in the eyes once more. It seemed even more crazy, even more angry. It was as if the Miniremo's condition was affecting the creature. Of course, it made sense that it would be. It roared once again, making the Rampardos Barlow was fighting roar as well, making Barlow jump back so Kate and him were back to back.

"Barlow, get ready," Kate spoke up.

"For what?" Barlow asked, sounding worried.

"They're about to charge. When I say, jump out of the way, and not a moment sooner."

Barlow nodded. "All right." The Rampardos growled as they loared their heads. The two aimed for Barlow and Kate, scrapping the ground with their feet. They then roared and charge forward. "Wait for it," Kate spoke as the Rampardos grew closer. "Wait," she spoke again as they grew ever closer. Barlow stood his ground, not shaking at all. "Now!" Kate shouted and the two jumped out of the way, just barely avoiding the beasts, causing them to slam head-first into each other. The impact caused them to stumble and fall and Kate quickly formed a set of large loops around both creatures. "Capture complete," Kate spoke as the Capture Disc returned to her Styler.

"No!" the man shouted as the Miniremo in front of him exploded violently. "This is impossible! The Miniremo...defeated by meer Rangers?"

Kate turned back to the man and the Rampardos slowly stood to their feet. They stepped up behind her and growled at the man. "Leave, or I will let them have you."

"BRAVELY RUN AWAY!" the man shouted as he turned and rushed off. "Team Dim Sun will get you, Rangers! We'll get you-" He tripped and landed face first in the dirt. Kate and Barlow laughed as they watched him pick himself back up and run away once more.

"So, he was really a part of Team Dim Sun," Barlow spoke seriously after a moment.

"Seems that way," Kate spoke and sighed. "And now they have a...Miniremo? It looked like a laptop."

"Well, considering how heavy those Gigaremo are, they aren't practical. They needed to be sure the technology worked, then they condensed."

Kate nodded. "Well, hopefully that's the last we'll see of them. For a while at least."

"Agreed." Barlow folded his arms over his chest and sighed. "Agreed."

Kate released the Rampardos and waved as they rushed off on their own. The two reported back to the Ranger Union, and after filing a report were sent back to the Ranger Base. Kate changed out of her uniform, then yawned as she lied back in her bed, closing her eyes. "What will Team Dim Sun come up with next?" she wondered as she drifted off into sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter and the story as a whole thus far ^^**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Kate yawned as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. The dorm room opened and she stepped out into the main room of the Ranger Base. She blinked, realizing something was amiss. "Where's Barlow?" she asked, upon realizing her leader was missing from the base, even though he had been there the night before.

"Barlow got an urgent call from the Ranger Union," Crawford spoke. "Apparently, all of the Pokemon in Boyleland have gone missing."

"Missing?"

Crawford nodded. "Every last one of them up and vanished overnight."

"How is that even possible?"

Crawford shrugged. "Apparently, it just is. Anyway, he left me in charge. So for today I'm 1-day Barlow."

"He left you in charge? Really?" Kate groaned in disbelief.

"Yeap, he left me in charge because he has a mission for you that would keep you from being in charge."

"Really now? What would that be?" Kate put her hand on her hip, curious about what Crawford was about to say.

Crawford cleared his throat, then began to speak in a very serious tone, something that shocked Kate so much she practically fell over. "Barlow was supposed to teach in today's Outdoor Class in the Ranger School. However, due to the fact that he was pulled away, he left the task up to you. He wants you to go to the Ranger School and teach the students."

"Me? Teach?" Kate was shocked even more by this. "I-I don't know...I'm not very good with things like that..."

Crawford smiled. "You're not the same shy girl that you were when you came to us, Kate. I think you can do it."

"I..." Kate turned to Luana, as if seeking a way out.

Luana shrugged. "Don't look at me," she spoke. "I told them I couldn't do it. There isn't a single part of me that would be good as a teacher."

Kate turned to Elaine this time, still seeking a way out of this task. "I'm just a mechanic," Elaine spoke at once. "Only Rangers can teach at Outdoor Class."

Kate sighed, she was clearly defeated. "All right, I'll do it."

Crawford nodded. "He told me to have you treat it as a mission as well, so you must take it very seriously."

"Right, this coming from the guy who can't take anything seriously," Kate pointed out.

"J-just do it, all right!" Crawford spoke up, his face a fair bit red.

Kate giggled. "All right, I'll do it." She smiled. "When do I have to be there?"

"In about ten minutes, I think?" Crawford spoke as he pulled out his Styler to look at the time.

"TEN MINUTES?" Kate shouted. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner to let me know!"

"Pachi pachi!" Emily protested from Kate's shoulder.

"I didn't think about it?" Crawford shrugged after his statement and Kate smacked him overside the head before taking off at a mad dash out the door.

. . .

"Damn that Crawford!" Kate shouted as she continued to run along the path that led to School Island. She could see the bridge in the distance that connected the mainland from the island. "I'm going to be late at this rate!"

"Ha ha ha! That is totally awesome!" a man on the bridge shouted as he stared at something in front of him. There were two of them, actually. Both dressed in black wetsuit-like outfits. They were completely blocking the path further on.

"Excuse me!" Kate shouted. "I need to get-"

"Shoot, it's a Ranger!" one of the men shouted as he whirled around when he heard Kate's voice. "We're in trouble now!"

"No, we're not, idiot!" the man who had laughed earlier spoke up as he turned to face his partner, smacking him overside the head. "Did you forget we've got the Miniremo?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Miniremo?" Kate asked. That word sounded familiar. The man who laughed quickly grabbed a small laptop from behind him, setting it upon a stand that extended from the bottom of the computer. Kate quickly pulled herself back into a defensive pose, recognizing the laptop as the same one that the Rampardos man had used. "So there's more of those things..."

"Let's show that Ranger what the Miniremo can do," the partner guy spoke up.

"Right, Croagunk, attack!" the man who laughed shouted as he input commands into the machine.

"You don't have to talk, you know? It only responds to the button presses, not what you say," the man's partner spoke up.

"I know that, idiot! I was being dramatic."

"Oh."

The man who laughed pushed a couple more buttons and a small blue creature jumped up from behind them. Upon its cheeks were orange circles that expanded and shrank like sacs as it gave out a low sound that sounded like it was ribbiting like a frog. It's eyes were big and yellow, but with a very relaxed and uncaring look upon them. This was a trait Croagunk were known for. They could be feeling any range of emotion, yet its face would never change.

A black stripe and two white ones went around its body, almost like it was wearing a shirt. The black circle also spread out two black circles around its arms in the same spot. It's hands had three fingers and were black in color. Only its middle finger was a different color, in which it was orange. Its feet also had only three toes, and its feet were black in color like its hands.

"I really don't have time for this..." Kate groaned as she pulled out her Styler. "Why can't you just give me a damn break?"

"Hey, make it attack while laughing uncontrollably!" the man's partner spoke up. "After all, this thing can do all kinds of stuff!"

"That's great!" the man who laughed punched a few keys and the Croagunk began to laugh as it jumped forward at Kate.

"I see you've got some new tricks with that thing," Kate spoke as she jumped back, avoiding a straight-on Poison Jab from the Croagunk's hands. "Capture on!" she shouted as she threw her Styler forward, releasing the Capture Disc in an instant. She quickly formed loops around the Croagunk before the two men in front of her could even react, and with every loop the Miniremo began to spark more and more until it finally exploded.

"What?" the man who laughed shouted and jumped back. "Impossible!"

"What do we do now?" the man's partner asked.

"Bail."

"But where? The road dead-ends at the school, and the other way is the Ranger. That means..." He went silent for a moment then nodded. "Right." The two turned and quickly jumped off the bridge into the water below.

Kate rushed to the edge of the bridge and looked down, but the two guys had vanished. "They had to be Team Dim Sun grunts..." she spoke with a sigh. "I'm going to be late!" she exclaimed in horror and rushed off to the school.

. . .

"Kate!" Ms. April spoke as she stepped up to Kate, who was now bent over, panting for breath.

"Hello...Ms. April...nice to...see you again," Kate spoke between breaths.

"Oh dear, did you run all the way here?"

Kate nodded. "I didn't want to be late. I'm taking over for Barlow to teach today." She breathed in and let out a nice deep breath before standing to her feet properly. "I'm here now, though. Sorry I'm late."

Ms. April giggled. "No worries, we're not even ready yet. We've still got about half an hour or so."

"But wasn't I supposed to be here ten minutes ago?"

Ms. April giggled again. "Oh dear, we just like the ranger to arrive early so we can go over some details with them. We usually ask them to arrive about fourty-five minutes early because of that. It gives them time to get ready and so on."

Kate gave a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good news."

Ms. April nodded. "Well, why don't you come with me to the Staff Room? We can talk about things there."

"Certainly." Kate smiled and the two made their way towards the school. Ms. April and the Principal both gave Kate a small speech and told her what kinds of questions to expect. After about half an hour or so, Ms. April left to get her class and Kate and the Principal made their way to Ascension Square.

. . .

"Welcome, everyone," Ms. April spoke as she stepped forward. Two classes had been assembled in front of Kate. One was Ms. April's class, while the other was what should have been Mr. Kincaid's class. However, he had left suddenly and a new teacher had been hired in his place. "As you all know, this is our Outdoor Class. As you may also know, we always seem to have perfect weather for these. It must be some kind of great blessing or something," she joked the last part, which was evident by her giggle afterwards.

"Anyway, I would like to introduce you to our teacher for the day." Ms. April waved to Kate. "Why not tell us a little about yourself?"

Kate nodded and stepped forward. How strange, a year ago, when she was in the school, she would have been too nervous to do this, but now, she felt strong. She remembered when Ms. April had called her up to the front of the class to introduce herself the first time, and she realized she wasn't that shy anymore. She gave a bow. "Hello everyone, I'm your teacher-for-a-day. My name is Kate Yamaki, but you're free to just call me 'Kate' if you'd like."

"It's a girl!" one of the male students spoke up.

"She's cute!" another male student spoke up.

"I bet she's a lesbian," another of the male students spoke with a shrug. The other male students gave him a glare. "What?"

"She's too cute to be one," the first student spoke up.

"Yeah, there's no way. She doesn't even have short hair, and we know that's one sure sign of a lesbian."

"Umm..." Kate spoke up, attracting the attention of the three boys. "Not all lesbians cut their hair short. In fact, that's a fairly common stereotype, one I think is stupid. Any girl can be a lesbian, no matter how she looks."

"So, are you a lesbian?" the third male student spoke up with a grin. He wanted to prove his point.

"I'm not going to say," Kate spoke and looked away. "It's none of your business what gender I do or don't like."

Ms. April smiled at this. She remembered the first day Kate had arrived at the school and how she had blurted out that she was a lesbian out of nervousness. "She's really changed, hasn't she?" she asked the Principal who nodded. "Anyway, let's move on, shall we?"

Kate nodded. "Can I actually teach a little? Last year, Crawford skipped right to the questions and didn't teach anything."

"Sure, it's actually unusual for a Ranger to skip actually teaching like he did."

Kate nodded. She then turned to the students. "All right, I doubt I can teach you much you won't already learn from this school. After all, they teach you quite a lot. However, I want all of you to understand the importance of working together and working with your Pokemon. When you catch a Pokemon with your Stylus, remember it will only stay with you for a short time. When you use a Pokemon's moves, it will release it.

"However, there are strange devices out there that people are using to try and stop us Rangers from doing our job. The devices cause terrible pain to Pokemon, and you can't befriend them. You might know of them from the news. They're the Gigaremo." Kate continued to speak about the Gigaremo, Team Dim Sun, and even the bond between a Ranger and their Pokemon. She even demonstrated this bond by showing them the Croagunk she had captured earlier, along with her relationship with her partner, Emily.

After a time, her teaching came to an end and she smiled. "So, keep all of that in mind as you step out to become Rangers, Mechanics, or even Operators." Kate pulled out her Styler and quickly performed her Ranger Pose. The entire school immediately erupted into talk about how amazing it was to see a real Ranger with a real Ranger Pose. Kate then got an evil smirk upon her face. "Now then, it's time for the Question and Answers Session of Terror!"

The kids erupted in cheer and Ms. April smiled as she stood back, enjoying the sight of seeing Kate in full control of the class. "How about we start from one end and make our way across?" Kate asked as she turned to the student on her far left. "So, you first."

"Well..." the student spoke at first as he thought for a moment. "It's kind of a weird question, but did you get good grades at school?"

Kate giggled. "Yes. Actually, to be honest, when I was here, I was this terribly shy little girl. I hid behind books a lot because I was scared of talking to people, so I tended to read a lot and as such, I got good grades. Remember, studying is very important."

"Is being a Ranger a really busy job?" the next student, this time female, in line asked.

"Oh yes," Kate spoke with a nod. "In fact, I'll be honest, it's been busier as of late. With Team Dim Sun doing what they're doing, it's been a busy few months."

"On that note," the next student, male, spoke up. "Have you ever seen a real Gigaremo?"

"Have I?" Kate held up her leg. "I was the one that discovered them, and I got this scar when it blew up in my face. Piece of metal went straight into my leg. I was stuck in bed for days afterwards."

"That's terrible!" the student shouted at once.

Kate giggled. "Well, we didn't know what we were dealing with at the time. We know Gigaremo violently explode when you take them out, so all Target Clears on them are done from a distance now."

"So no one gets injured anymore?"

Kate shook her head. "Nope, we always make sure no one will get injured in the blast, even ourselves."

"Awesome."

The next student, this time female, giggled a little. "Are you in love with someone?"

Kate turned a very deep shade of crimson and covered her face. "W-what kind of question is that?"

The female student giggled. "I'm sorry, you just have that look to you that says you've got a partner." Kate blushed even deeper. So much so that she pulled off her jacket and covered her face with it. The female student giggled again. "What's your partner like?"

"My partner..." Kate pulled the jacket away from her face as she thought for a moment. "Well, I haven't seen my partner in a while now... My partner works in the Fiore region right now."

The female student blushed. "Oh! A long distance relationship! That's so romantic, you must love that person a lot!"

Kate nodded, then blushed even deeper, covering her face again. "All right, that's enough questions about her personal life," Ms. April spoke up.

"I-it's fine, Ms. April," Kate spoke as she pulled the jacket away again and pulled it back on. "It just caught me off guard a little is all."

"Hey, Ranger!" the male student who had been speaking about lesbians earlier shouted. "I bet you haven't caught even a hundred Pokemon, have you?"

Kate huffed a little at this. What did it matter how many Pokemon she had caught? This kid was really being a jerk. "Does it matter?"

"A Ranger who hasn't caught at least a hundred Pokemon isn't a real Ranger."

"Oh yeah? And how many Pokemon have YOU caught?" Kate gave the boy a glare and he ducked. He had realized the flaw in his question. "That's what I thought." She pulled out her Styler and pressed a button, displaying the Ranger Browser for the students. "And for your information, I have caught over a hundred Pokemon, see? With Team Dim Sun disturbing everything, we've had to catch every variety of Pokemon we've found so far, from little Bonsly to big Blastoise."

"So something bad is happening in Almia?" the female student next to the previous student spoke up.

Kate nodded. "But don't worry, that's what we're here for. That's why we need you to study and graduate, so you can come join us and help defeat the evil within Almia." She smiled.

"I'll definitely do it, then!" the female student spoke with determination. "I pledge to be the best Ranger I can be!"

"That's the spirit!"

"Is it true that Rangers don't get to go home very often?" the next student asked and Kate sighed.

"Unfortunately, with the way things are going now, yes," Kate answered honestly. "If we can stop Team Dim Sun, though, then things will calm down and people will be able to break more and go home, but I've only been home a few times myself since I became a Ranger because all of this mess started right after I became one."

The student nodded and looked away. "I don't know if I can do this then...I don't want to be away from home a lot."

"Neither do I, but as a Ranger we have to put our duties to whatever region we're stationed in before our own wants and desires. If you don't, then when the pressure comes, you'll fall."

The student nodded.

"Can I touch your Styler?" one of the male students suddenly shouted out of line.

"No," Kate spoke flatly and the student collapsed, as if the word "no" had knocked him over.

One of the male students grinned devilishly. "Do you sleep in pajamas at night?"

Kate just about fell over at that. "We'll have none of that now! She may be a girl, but she's not here to create fantasies in your heads!" Ms. April shouted at once.

"Sorry, Teacher," the student spoke with a bow.

"Sorry, he's a trouble maker," Ms. April spoke.

"It's fine," Kate spoke with a smile. "Can I answer his question anyway?"

Ms. April blinked in confusion, then shrugged. "If you want."

Kate turned to the class. "Now, then, no more of those kinds of questions, but I will answer just this one. The answer is no." She nodded. "Almia is much warmer then where I'm from, and I just can't sleep with a bunch of clothes on."

"Where are you from?" one of the female students asked.

"The Kanto region actually. Before I was a Ranger, I fought in the Pokemon League."

"You were second place, weren't you?" one of the students shouted. "I remember now! Four years ago there was a person named Kate Yamaki who won second place!"

Kate nodded. "It's true, I did win second place in the league." She smiled. "Considering how many leagues they throw a year, I'm surprised you knew that."

The student pushed his glasses up. "I know every single first, second, and third place winner of every Pokemon league from the start!"

Kate rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "That's...nice..." She turned back to the students. "Any other questions?"

"I have a question!" a voice shouted and Kate whipped out her Styler and readied herself.

"You two again!" Kate shouted when she saw the two Dim Sun minions she had beaten on the bridge now walking up to her.

"Is that Team Dim Sun?" one of the students asked and Kate nodded.

"Hey now, I just want to ask you a question," the first minion spoke and Kate growled.

"And what would that be?"

The Dim Sun minion pulled out a Miniremo. "Why did you have to mess with us earlier? Now we have to resort to our second Miniremo to beat you."

"Bring it on!" Kate shouted.

"Carnivine!" the minion shouted and input a set of commands into the computer. Immediately, two green plants jumped out of nowhere. Their heads looked like venus fly traps, while they had long leaves as arms and vines as legs.

"Capture on!" Kate shouted as she launched the Capture Disc. The entire class went dead silent as the battle began. Kate quickly formed one large loop around the Carnivine, but the minion realized what she was planning and commanded the Carnivines to split up. "So, we're going to do this the hard way, are we?" She smirked. "That's fine. Let's give these kids a show!"

Kate swung her Styler to the right, forcing the Capture Disc to fly off towards the right a ways before she made it reverse and turn back. Before the minion realized what was going on, she had performed four quick loops around one of the Carnivine. It wasn't enough to capture it, not yet, but she had done something. The computer had already begun to spark.

"Attack with your Razor Leaf!" the minion shouted as he pushed keys furiously. The Carnivine faced each other and pulled their hands together.

"Ready, Emi?" Kate asked and Emily nodded. "Now! Thunder Wave!" Emily jumped from Kate's back and unleashed a blast of electricity out at both opponents at once. The two Carnivine roared as they soon found themselves paralyzed by the attack. "And now," Kate began as she whirled her Styler around and began to loop around one of the Carnivine. "Capture complete!" she shouted as she captured one of them, causing the Miniremo to spark furiously.

"Oh crap!" the minion shouted and jumped back as Kate brought her Styler around, quickly looping around the other one. A simple capture later, and the Miniremo exploded.

"Capture two complete," Kate spoke as she turned to the Dim Sun minions. "You're defeated."

"Bail!" the two minions shouted and jumped to their feet and rushed off.

"That...was...AWESOME!" one of the students shouted.

"That was amazing!" another student shouted.

"Did you see that? A real Ranger just performed a real capture and defeated real bad guys!" another of the students shouted.

"Great job, Ranger!" all of the students shouted and picked Kate up, throwing her up into the air and catching her a couple of times. The students continued this uproar of cheering for several minutes.

. . .

"Good job, Kate," Ms. April spoke as she set a hand on Kate. They had gone back to the class after a time and were now finishing up. "You put a port into a sea of learning. Our students look up to you as someone who stands for their hopes and dreams. I hope you'll return to our port even bigger from your worldly experiences. The students aren't likely to forget this day, ever."

"Miss Ranger, ma'am?" one of the students asked and Kate turned to him. "Can I ask one more question?" Kate nodded. "Is it fun being a Pokemon Ranger?"

"Yes, a lot of fun," Kate spoke with a smile.

"I knew it, thank you for coming, Ranger. Please come again, okay?" the student smiled.

"Kate, thanks to you our Outdoor class was both fun and thrilling," Ms. April spoke.

"I have no doubt you can overcome any challenges you face," the Principal spoke.

"Thank you for being our one-day teacher," Ms. April spoke.

"Thank you!" the entire class shouted in unison.

"Class dismissed!" Ms. April spoke with a smile and everyone went their own ways.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to review and tell me what you thought of the chapter and the story as a whole thus far ^^**


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